IM: Rhapsody of Subconscious Desire
by TakerFoxx
Summary: An Imperfect Metamorphosis spinoff. Due to events beyond their control, Kaguya and Mokou find themselves trapped in the world of dreams. Will they ever escape to reality? Can they stop killing each other to find out? And who is this girl "Rumia" anyway?
1. Deep Dive

Deep Dive

_She fell._

_She fell and landed belly-first on the grass. Though the fall was only a few feet, the impact was still enough to shock her. She was, after all, only six years old._

_Tears dribbled down her face. She angrily wiped them away. She was frustrated with herself, frustrated with the fact that she had failed, failed in front of him._

_A shadow fell upon her. "Well now, that was quite the fall," said a wry voice, laced with amusement. "Now, what did you learn?"_

_She turned away from the man. Facing him would be unbearable, especially since she had been so sure that she would succeed. He had found her childlike confidence to be funny. This had only driven her harder to prove herself._

_The man knelt down next to her. "I asked you a question. What did you learn?"_

_She sniffled, but still didn't look at him. "That I can't fly."_

_He tsked. "That's not it. The skill of flight is a gift freely given to all, and would I allow my daughter to be exempt? No, I meant what did you learn about yourself?"_

"_I…uh…"_

_He placed a hand on her head. "You failed not because you lack the ability. You failed because you allowed yourself to become arrogant and attempt something you had no experience with. You were so determined to show that you can fly that you forgot that you had no idea how. Do you understand?"_

"_Uh…" She frowned. "What's 'arrogant' mean?"_

_Father laughed. He playfully tousled her nut-brown hair. "I guess I forgot who I'm talking too. There I go again, giving out lectures like they're candy. Well, come on." He took her by the hand and pulled her to her feet._

"_There's a trick to it, you know," Father said. She stared up at him. In all the hours she had watched her older brothers Umakai and Maro swoop through the air, laughing and throwing taunts at one another, there didn't seem to be any trick beyond "Push up and stay there."_

"_There is?"_

_Father nodded gravely. "Of course. You see, flying is really not that different from falling. The only difference is that when you fall, you hit the ground. So to fly, the thing is to _not_ hit the ground. Once you've got that down, going up instead of down becomes easy!"_

"_Miss the ground?" Merely conceiving how such a thing could possible nearly strained her young mind._

_Father laughed. "I never thought of it that way! 'Miss the ground." Wonderful! Yes, you must miss the ground. Would you like to try again?"_

_She thought upon that with all the fierce intensity that only children seem to be capable of. Then she nodded._

"_Okay then." He put his hand under her arms and lifted her up. "Now remember, stop thinking about trying to fly. The more you do, the harder it'll be. Instead, just think about how much you don't like the ground and want it to go away. Can you do that?"_

_She nodded once._

"_Okay, here we go!"_

_Father pushed her up into the air and released her. Her arms spread to either side, she closed her eyes and…_

…she fell.

The wind howled at her face as she tumbled down through the gray, lightning torn sky. The wind tore at her clothes, threatening to tear them right off. Two of the paper charms she had attached to her clothing had already been dislodged and were fluttering away. Not for the first time, she was grateful for the suspenders that held her pants in place, even if they did look a little fashionably awkward. Thick billowing clouds flew past, almost seeming to mock her descent. Well, let them mock. Her condition was temporary at best. All she had to do was slow her descent and swoop upward and her direction would be reversed. A simple trick, one that she had done literally thousands of times.

The only problem was that this time it didn't work. At all.

Now that was puzzling. She had been flying longer than she was able to remember. And while she certainly never bothered to enter any contests, she did consider herself reasonably skilled at the art. But even if she weren't, her power of flight had never failed her. And yet, now it was as if it were lost entirely. How odd.

Well, that problem would have to wait until she saw to the problem of her plummeting down through the sky. Fortunately, there was more than one way to roast a cat. She maneuvered her body so that it was upright, with her toes pointed downward and her head looking up. Reaching deep into herself, she summoned her mastery over flame, directing it to shoot out of the soles of her feet. The propulsion should be enough to arrest her fall and provide a temporary replacement for her failed ability to fly.

However, the results were much the same. She frowned and tried again, this time by shoving her hands downward and instructing the flame to burst out of her palms. Again, no response.

Well, okay. This was a problem, but there still were other options available to her. Flight and flame were out, but good old-fashioned danmaku should serve. After all, energy release was energy release, and if she fired enough all at once the recoil should slow her enough to avoid splattering her body parts all over the place once she hit ground.

It didn't work. This time around, she was hardly surprised.

She took a deep breath and stared at the vast expanse around her. Okay, it seemed that she would end up experiencing a rather unpleasant landing after all. But still, while not exactly fun, it wasn't the end of the world. The impact would kill her so quickly that she wouldn't feel any pain at all, and then all she had to do was wait for a small amount of time while her body put itself back together. She would be back on her feet in five minutes, tops.

It was then that an uncomfortable thought occurred to her. If her other abilities were no longer operational, than perhaps her regenerative immortality had ceased to function as well?

For the first time in what had to be centuries, she felt the slightest twinge of fear.

She looked down. It appeared that she was about to find out. The ground was just now coming into view, a vast expanse of brown, completely devoid of any plant life. Several stone cylinders jutted up from the ground in a grid-like pattern that had to be deliberate. She wasn't sure where this place was, but at the moment she really didn't care.

She was almost among the columns now. She had to admit, they were impressively large, with a circumference of nearly fifty meters apiece and a height of what had to be at least a kilometer. She wasn't sure who had created such monoliths, but they had to be someone of great power. Nice work on the whole. She just hoped she could live long enough to tell them so.

As she neared the top of the nearest column, she suddenly reached out to grab the edge. It really wasn't a good idea. At the speed she was going, her fingers would slip right off. And if by some completely improbably miracle she did manage to find a handhold, her arms would likely tear from her sockets.

So imagine her surprise when, after so many reliable choices had failed her, this one act of desperation succeeded. The next thing she knew, she had stopped falling and was clinging of the edge of the column's top by her fingers. Her tremendous momentum seemed to have completely disappeared. It flew in the face of all logic but hey, she would take it.

With a grunt she pressed her feet against the column's side and pushed up. Fortunately her fingers didn't give and she was able to pull herself up onto her elbows.

A sense of relief coursed through her, stronger than any she had felt for years. Nothing that was happening made any sense. But in the end, so long as she was alive, what difference did it make? She was too used to having her continued existence guaranteed to think well of the possibility of her demise.

Then she looked up and realized that she was not alone.

Another girl was already standing at the top of the column. Her hair fell down nearly to her ankles and was so dark that it practically reflected light in a glossy sheen. She wore an extravagant robe designed with a pattern of blue flowers and a plain t-shirt and a pair of shorts under that. Her skin was flawlessly white and without blemish. She was breathtakingly beautiful.

The girl struggling to pull herself up merely blinked. "Oh," she said. "It's you." After a pause she added, "Typical."

The other girl smiled sweetly. Then, without uttering a single word she hit the first girl with a vicious kick that snapped her head back and dislodged her fingers. Once again she was sent tumbling.

_I guess I should've seen this coming, _the falling girl thought. _It's not like anything else was going right since I came to…_

A moment of confusion washed over her and she frowned. _Wait, how the hell did I get here again?_

Unfortunately, she didn't have the chance to ponder the question any further, as at that moment Fujiwara no Mokou slammed into the hard, unforgiving earth.

…

Kaguya Houraisan, eternal rival of Fujiwara no Mokou and (sometimes) exiled Princess of the Lunarian people, peered over the side of the column. A satisfied smile crept its way across her face. From the look of things, Mokou had forgotten how to fly. It wasn't often her life gifted her with such favors. But then, considering how long her life was, it did mean that sooner or later she would have something special land in her lap.

Though as fun as it had been to kick Mokou and send her plunging to yet another death, it was a temporary solution at best. She would be up again in a few minutes. Which meant that Kaguya should probably think of an appropriate taunt for when she arrived.

Kaguya surveyed the surrounding area with the experienced eye of an expert. Large circular terrain, no cover except by jumping into the gaps between columns. Nothing really gained by hopping from column-top to column-top, but it did mean there were plenty of stone sides to swing the pyromaniac into.

As Kaguya crouched low and waited for Mokou's inevitable arrival, a troubling thought occurred to her. _Wait, where am I?_

…

She hadn't died.

Mokou frowned and pulled herself up into a sitting position. She checked her body over. No broken bones, no shattered vertebrae, no explosion of squishy internal organs and accompanying juices and no period of blacking out during which any of the above might have happened. Death happened to her with such regularity that its absence was noticed immediately.

She turned and examined the place where she had landed. She was sitting in the ground between the jutting cylinders, with each column forming a small slope at its base. Her landing had left a shallow but perfect imprint of her body, displaying where her torso, limbs, head and even _hair _of all things had fallen. Mokou found it to be rather silly.

_Okay, so now I'm completely invulnerable, _she thought._ Don't understand a lick of what's going on, but hey, I'll take it._

Then she turned her attention upward, squinting so as to make out the column-tops. Kaguya was up there. It didn't matter if she had failed in her attempt to murder Mokou; the point was that she had tried. Which meant there was currently an imbalance of the scales.

Mokou's eyes narrowed even further. Now that the possibility of ripping the Moonbitch's skin off with her bare hands had presented itself, her previous failure to make any of her abilities work had been forgotten. Now the only thought to occupy her mind was how much she was going to make Kaguya hurt.

To that end, she began to run. She directed herself toward the sloping base of the column that was most likely to be the one she had been kicked off of and started running, the soles of her feet kicking up dust as they slammed into the earth. Even when she reached the column's foundation she didn't slow down, but instead continued to run straight up the column's side. Either the impact had suddenly returned her powers to her or gravity considered their business over and done with. Either way, Mokou didn't care.

Straight up she charged, hands clenched into fists and thrust behind her to either side. An eager grin slashed its way across her features as her fists burst into flame.

…

Kaguya jerked in surprise when Mokou suddenly came sailing over the platform's edge. While that certainly was to be expected, it was far too soon. After a fall like that, she shouldn't be up for another five minutes at the very least!

But there she was, as real as life (and Kaguya would be the one to know) and ready to kill. Mokou flew into the air, somersaulting as she went, turning her body to face Kaguya. Kaguya had just enough time to see Mokou's broad smile before she had to dodge the wave of intense heat that tore its way toward her.

Mokou didn't give her any time to recover. She was on Kaguya in moments, swinging her flaming hands in a series of blows designed to drive right through the princess's body. Fortunately, even when taken off-guard, Kaguya knew her opponent well enough to duck and dodge the first several thrusts, block or turn away the next few, and even create an opening in order to drive a hard kick to Mokou's midsection.

Mokou took the kick like the pro that she was, throwing her herself back to lessen some of the blow's impact and twisting her body so that she rolled over backward and landed in a crouch. Kaguya braced herself for her rival's leap, but Mokou apparently had other ideas. To be precise, ideas that centered around blasting Kaguya with a pencil-thin spear of flame at pointblank range.

_Damn it, _Kaguya thought in irritation as the spear hit her in the stomach. _Now we're even again! _She had been wanting to hold her lead and maybe even increase it. Just the knowledge that it would drive Mokou nuts alone made it worth it.

But to her surprise, Mokou's beam of intense heat didn't cut her in half. It certainly drove her back a few feet, but if her body was feeling any pain at all, then it was doing a good job of hiding it.

Apparently Kaguya's rival felt the same way, as the beam vanished a moment later. Mokou had a look of absolute befuddlement on her face. "How did you do that?" she asked. "How did you survive?"

"Um…" Kaguya inspected the area of the spear's impact. Not only was the flesh whole and unburned, but the shirt she was wearing remained undamaged. It was as if she hadn't been hit at all.

"That's strange," Kaguya remarked. Really, there was little else she could think of to say.

"Strange? _Strange?" _Mokou hissed. "I'll show you strange!"

Her toes left the ground as she lifted in the air. She closed her eyes and spread her limbs out in the crucifixion pose. Fire erupted all around her, twirling around her body and rustling her clothing. To either side, enormous wings of pure flame erupted, spreading themselves majestically. A massive birdlike tail formed beneath her.

Mokou opened her eyes. They blazed with pure unadultered fury.

Kaguya was unimpressed. "That's not strange," she said. "You do that _all the time!"_

With a screech of rage, Mokou hurled a pillar of fire at Kaguya. With a sigh of resignation, Kaguya sidestepped the attack. This was all becoming routine, really.

"Come on, did you really expect that to work?" she taunted. "You do that all the time too! Do you have any creativity in you at all, or did it all burn away…"

Then she noted the look of smugness on Mokou's face, visible even through the glare. Kaguya glanced down to the spot where the fire had hit. The flames not only remained, but they were starting to grow.

"…aw shit."

Kaguya threw herself out of the way as a holocaust engulfed the platform she was standing on. But it was too late. She had delayed a fraction of a second too long, she moved just a fraction of a second too slow, and the flames a fraction of a second too fast. Fire washed over her body and covered her completely.

Nothing happened.

Kaguya blinked. She looked around. The top of the column had been scorched black, but she remained whole and untouched. Judging by the look of frustrated confusion on Mokou's face, it was clear that she was supposed to be a charred corpse by now.

"Um…" Kaguya looked herself over. "Wow. You are really off your game."

"Shut up!" Mokou screamed. She hurled another ball of fire at Kaguya's head. The princess didn't even bother to dodge this time. As predicted, it hit her in the face and dispersed without causing harm.

Kaguya grinned. While she didn't understand it, she was not about to question her good fortune. "My turn," she purred.

She curled her fingers into claws and held her arms out, one over the other, like the gaping maw of a crocodile. Crackling lightning danced around her fingers and shot out to twist together into a brilliant ball of light between her hands.

"Kamehame…" she muttered.

Kaguya pressed her wrists together, palms out, and thrust her hands forward.

"_Haaa!"_

The sphere of energy shot out, becoming a beam of pure energy. With an annoyed glare, Mokou twisted out of the way. The beam harmlessly sped past.

Kaguya snapped her fingers.

The beam suddenly broke up into several smaller paths of light, which circled around and charged straight at Mokou, zeroing in on the center of her body.

Mokou's eyes bulged and she fled, zipping and turning between the columns. The destructive ribbons followed in hot pursuit. "No fair!" she cried, shooting fireballs behind her, trying to destroy the beams before they hit.

It didn't work. The beams caught up and exploded upon impact. Kaguya shielded her eyes as the surrounding area was awash in a blinding burst of light.

Then the glare faded. Mokou was not only still there, but she was just as unharmed as Kaguya had been.

Kaguya's shoulders slumped. "Oh," she said. "Well. This presents a problem." She glanced down toward the stone beneath her feet. "Okay then, let's improvise."

Pushing herself backward, Kaguya took to the air and floated over the edge of the column. She dug her fingers into the stone directly below the edges lip and pushed up. To her delight, it separated cleanly, leaving her with a stone disc about a fourth of a meter in thickness and twenty meters around.

She lifted up slowly, holding tightly to the disc. She approached Mokou, who was still looking confused. With a grin she began to rotate in midair, starting slow but gradually picking up speed.

"Hey Mokou!" she shouted.

Mokou looked up. Her eyes widened when she was what Kaguya was carrying.

"Catch!" Kaguya shouted. With a final rotation she hurled the disc straight at Mokou. It spun towards her with enough force to tear her in half.

It hit her in the midsection. Mokou was slammed backward straight into the side of one of the columns. The force was enough to drive both her and a part of the edge of the disc a good four meters straight into the stone wall. Kaguya hovered lower to get a good look.

Her shoulders slumped and she sighed. As was now becoming predictable, not only had Mokou _not _been bisected, she was already in the process of burning her way out.

With a roll of her eyes, Kaguya summoned another ball of pure energy and used it to blast the disc to rubble and dust. Mokou came out from the column, blinking dust from her eyes.

Then she saw Kaguya and her scowl returned. Fire ignited in both of her palms.

Kaguya held up both hands and signaled for a time-out.

"Huh?" Mokou cocked her head to one side. "What are you on about? There's no stopping until one of us stops breathing."

"Normally, yes. But I think there are some oddities that need to be addressed first. For example, we both seem to have become indestructible. Don't you find that a bit…unusual?"

Mokou frowned as she thought. She let her flames die and her hands fall to her side.

"A little, yeah," she said. "But hey, it just stopped that stupid spinning wheel trick of yours from emancipating my legs. So I'm not complaining."

"Yes, but aren't you curious as to _why? _Furthermore, there is the problem of our immediate location. Do you have any idea where we are and how we got here?"

Mokou looked around at the stone pillars surrounding them at all sides. Then she looked up. Overhead, dark storm clouds still rolled and collided with one another without actually bringing forth the promised storm.

"No idea," she said. "All I know is I was falling through the sky and was unable to fly." She looked down. "Though that's obviously changed."

"That's my point! I think we've got more important things to worry about than killing each other?"

"Good point," Mokou admitted. "What do you suggest?"

Kaguya scratched the bottom of her chin. "Well…Let's think back. What's the last thing you remember?"

"You. Trying to cut me in half."

"I mean before that," Kaguya said. She rolled her hand in an impatient gesture. "Before we started fighting."

"Falling through the sky and being unable to do anything about it, remember? You were there, you saw."

A small smile started to form on Kaguya's lips, but she forced it back down. "And before that?"

"Uh…" Mokou folded her arms. She looked down as she thought. "Well…I remember you killing me again." Her eyes narrowed. "Opening up my stomach and pulling out my guts. That's the sorta thing that stays with you."

Kaguya rolled her eyes. "That was yesterday!"

"And then you used my own intestines to hang me! I mean, come on Kaguya! That's low, even for you."

"Oh please, you roasted me alive only a few hours later, when I was tied up and helpless." Then she frowned. "Though come to think of it, I can't seem to remember why I was tied up in the first place. Huh."

"I did? Yeah, I can kinda remember something like that." Mokou scratched her head. "So…We've got large chunks of memory missing, we've ended up in some weird no-man's-land, and our powers are going all nutty." She shrugged. "Yeah, I got nothing."

"Me neither. Maybe if we-"

Kaguya never got the chance to finish her suggestion. For at that moment the clouds suddenly cleared and the sun came out. However, it was unlike the sun they were familiar with. For one thing, it was huge, easily taking up a full third of the sky. Actual sunspots and plasma flares were visible on its surface. And for another, instead of yellow it was pure white.

And yet, despite the fact that Kaguya and Mokou were looking straight at it, their eyes felt no strain and suffered no damage. And despite its immense size, its rays gave off no excess heat.

Kaguya gaped in shock. She stared at the bizarre sun for a full minute before looking over to Mokou. Judging from the look on her face, her rival was just as confused as she was.

"Kaguya," Mokou said in a soft voice. "Where _are _we?"

…

_Well, it ain't Kansas, I'll tell you that much! Then again, was it ever?_

_Anyway, this is the first chapter of Imperfect Metamorphosis's first ever spinoff! *fireworks, applause, champagne, etc.* A bit shorter than my usual fare, but hey, with only two characters it simplifies things. _

_So...yeah. If you've read this without first going through IM, then I wouldn't say it's strictly necessary to read the main story. However, it will clear quite a few things up._

_So anyway, for the regular readers, Imperfect Metamorphosis will still get top priority, so this story won't be updated quite as regularly. Anyways, here goes nothing and I hope you like it!_

_Until next time, everyone!_


	2. Forged in Flames

Forged in Flames

_She stared at the ground. _

_Overhead, her teacher looked down at her with stern eyes._

"_Young lady," she said. "Would you be so kind as to explain these?" _

_Her teacher held out three glossy magazines. On two of the covers were colorful illustrations of characters from popular children's stories. On the third was a photograph of a rabbit-girl wearing very minimal clothing. _

_The girl remained where she was, kneeling on the rich, purple rug with her head downcast. She said nothing. _

"_These were found," her teacher hissed. "Under a mattress. _Your _mattress, to be specific. Would you like to tell me how they got there?"_

_The girl hesitated and then shook her head._

"_No? You do not? Are you certain? Then let me change the phrasing: where did these…things come from?"_

_She waited for five seconds before adding, "Well?"_

"_Cammy gave 'em to me," the girl muttered. _

"_I'm sorry, what was that?"_

_The girl took a deep breath and repeated in a louder tone, "Cammy gave 'em to me!"_

"_Cammy, you say? The kitchen girl? That Cammy?"_

_The girl nodded once._

"_I see. So, once again you are not only associating with that girl, despite numerous warnings not to speak to her, she is now apparently providing you with contraband. Do I even need to explain how embarrassing it would be to your parents if they discovered you were in possession of material so…common? It seems all my lessons on what is right and proper for a young lady of your station to be absorbing have gone to waste."_

"_Who told?" the girl said sulkily._

"_What was that?"_

"_Who told on me?"_

"_Young lady, that has-"_

"_It was Yorihime, wasn't it?"_

_Her teacher opened her mouth to admonish the girl again, but then apparently thought better of it. "Good guess," she admitted._

"_Thought so," the girl said with a sniff. "Little snitch."_

_Her teacher pursed her lips. "That's beside the point. We're not talking about her, we're talking about _you. _You know the rules, you know what your father and mother thinks of this trash, and yet you insist in pursuing it. Do you really believe such behavior is becoming of a princess?"_

"_So what? I'm not the firstborn. It's not like they care anyway."_

"_This again," her teacher said with a roll of her eyes. She sighed and knelt down next to the girl. "Look, I know it seems that since Chang'e is the Heir Anointed she gets all the attention-"_

"_That's 'cause she does."_

"_-but that doesn't change the facts. I know it's…difficult sometimes, but you are still an important member of the Royal Family, and nothing is going to change that. You may not like it, but the way things are is the way things are. You were born into privilege, and with that comes certain responsibilities, especially when it comes to matter how a young lady is to behave and who she is to associate with. Do you understand?"_

_The girl frowned but she didn't object. Her teacher took this as a positive sign._

"_Good. Now to the unpleasant part." Her teacher held up one of the magazines, the one with the provocative bunny-girl on the cover. "Perhaps you can tell me what you're doing with pictures of nude _women?"

_She watched her pupil, waiting for a reply. The girl flinched under her gaze. Her eyes darted back and forth as she desperately tried to think of an excuse that her teacher would find acceptable. But instead…_

She stared at the ground.

It was a position she had held for at almost ten minutes. Trying to solve problems on her own was not something she was accustomed to. That was what her servants were for. But now she was on her own, cut off from help. And so she found herself thinking and thinking hard, turning the problem over and over in her mind. It was an exhausting experience.

Someone kicked her in the leg. "Hey!" her rival snapped. "Moonbitch! Wake up!"

Well, to be strictly accurate, she wasn't alone. As cruel fate would have it, she had been forced to share the same space with the single most aggravating person she had ever had the misfortune of meeting.

"Are you even paying attention?" Mokou demanded. "Or would you rather take a nap?"

With a sigh, Kaguya unfolded her legs and straightened to her feet. "I am trying," she said, "to think of a solution to our problem. So unless that piece of charcoal you call a brain has anything new to contribute, please sit down and shut up."

Mokou folded her arms. "Oh, I've got something new all right. I guess I've stabbed out your eyes one time too many, because I don't see how you could've missed it."

"What?"

"Look _down, _your royal dumbness."

Kaguya did so. Her eyes widened.

They were still perched at the top of an impossibly high column of stone, just one of several. However, between the time when Kaguya had started thinking and the present, the columns had evidently gotten tired of the lack of life and had opted for a change. Healthy green grass had grown everywhere, covering both the flat tops and stone walls. It made the whole place look like a forest of extremely tall cylindrical trees that were spaced evenly apart.

"Well," Kaguya said as she stared at the blades of grass that had somehow sprouted up under her bare feet without her noticing. "That's unusual."

Mokou folded her arms and waited.

"Well," Kaguya muttered. "I'd say it's obvious that someone has decided to amuse themselves by messing around with us."

Mokou raised an eyebrow.

"And I'd say said person has exceptional abilities."

Mokou's finger started to tap against her bicep.

"Most likely a reality warper of some kind."

Mokou cleared her throat. "Kaguya…"

"And said person probably has something of an odd sense of humor."

"Kaguya."

"And…a really deep love for a well-kept lawn."

"Kaguya!" Mokou snapped.

Kaguya blinked. "What?"

"Are you finished? I had that all figured five minutes ago."

"Well, then why didn't you say so?" Kaguya said with a scowl.

"Because you looked like you were trying so very hard to think. Far be it from me to interrupt something so rare."

A crossed look passed over Kaguya's face. She extended a finger toward a point about a foot to the left of Mokou's throat and swung it sideways in a slashing motion. At the same time, a pencil-thin beam of light shot out from her finger to bisect Mokou's neck.

At least that was the plan. Mokou looked down at her still whole neck and shook her head. "Stop that. It's annoying."

"Had to try," Kaguya muttered. She massaged her forehead with her fingers. "Look Mokou, we-"

A fist-sized fireball smacked her in the face. Her head jerked back and she said, "Hey!"

"Just checking," Mokou said. She sounded disappointed. "You were saying?"

Kaguya rolled her eyes. "Stupid pyro," she muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Look you psychotic whore, let's get some things straight: you hate my well-bred guts and I would _love _to slow-cook you on a spit and throw your charred corpse to a mob of starved rats-"

"What's with you and the obvious today?"

"-but like it or not we're stuck here together. Neither of us remembers how we got here or what in the world is going on. So, at least until we get me back home, I…"

Mokou shoved her hands in her pockets. "If you're going to suggest some sort of team-up, can I save time and laugh in your face now?"

"So that would be a no?"

"That would be a piss off and die. And this time, make it stick."

"Figured as much," Kaguya muttered. She shook her head. "Fine. Best of luck to you, Mokou. Do look me up if you ever manage to escape."

Without waiting for the inevitable comeback, Kaguya spun around and marched to the column's edge. Without slowing down she leapt over the side and swooped into the air. Of course she didn't have the slightest idea of where she was going, but if she kept moving in a straight line for long enough, she was bound to find something.

Unless…

With a nose of unease, she stared down at the field of impossibly high green columns below her. What if she was in some sort of alternate universe, one with nothing but row after row of the things? What if she ended circling the planet without having found anything? What if she was stuck here, with no one but Mokou for company? That fate was almost too terrible to contemplate.

_Enough, _she thought to herself. Of course that wasn't the case. Sooner or later, she would find more people. There were always more characters to be introduced. If she kept going, she would eventually run across a small village or a city or a grand castle or an ominous fortress of some kind. And then?

Kaguya shook her head. She just wasn't any good at this whole planning thing. That was one of the many, many things she kept Eirin around for. She was just so much better at long-terming strategizing than Kaguya would ever be. Hell, as much as the very thought repulsed her, even Mokou was better at it than her.

But Eirin wasn't here. And Mokou wasn't coming along. Which meant Kaguya was now on her own. The thought was troubling, but she would have to rely on herself from here on out. She grimaced as she watched her shadow as it leapt in and out of sight, jumping from green column top only to disappear into the deep spaces in between. It was not a heartening thought, but she didn't have any choice at the moment. How annoying.

Well, the first order of business would be to gather information on her new surroundings. If she came across a town of some sort, then her job would be easy enough. There was always any number of people endlessly wandering around with tidbits of gossip and news from which she could pull together a larger picture. And if worse comes to worse, she could always search out that wise old guy that every tavern or pub seemed to have.

After that she should probably look into getting some decent equipment. All things considered, her outfit was horribly inappropriate for trials ahead. She wondered if there would be any odd jobs she could take to help pay for the gear. And if not that, then she was sure to find some ruffians wandering about with disposable income that they could be persuaded to share.

And finally she would have to work on getting some help. That part would be easy enough. There was always any number of adventurers for hire to be found, oftentimes in the same tavern as the wizened old man. Kaguya wondered if she would have to scrape together enough money to pay them or if the simple promise of adventure and the inevitable spoils would be enough. At any rate, she should probably look into acquiring someone with a large sword and enough brawn to take point whenever they encountered monsters. Someone smaller but sneaky and quick on their feet would come in handy as well. Kaguya herself could fill the position of combat spellcaster, so no problems there. Though since she shouldn't expect the others to be immortal she should probably look into acquiring a healer…

Kaguya's musings were interrupted by a very familiar whooshing hiss, coming from right behind her. She whirled around, hands glowing and ready to return fire.

However, it was completely unnecessary. Mokou was not attacking her as she had thought. Instead, she was hovering over the column Kaguya had just left and washing it with her flames. Kaguya watched in confusion as fire ran down its walls and scorched the grass, leaving blackened stone in its wake.

Mokou whirled around and gave another column the same treatment. And then another one. There seemed to be no purpose to her attack. She didn't even bother to see if her actions had turned up anything new. She just torched one column after another.

Kaguya watched her for a moment more. "What does she think she's doing?" she asked herself. "Does she expect to find rupees or something?"

Then she shrugged and resumed her journey. In the end, it really didn't matter. Mokou had always been insane, so this temper tantrum wasn't anything surprising.

At any rate, a healer was a definite. Probably a priestess of some kind, the last surviving member of an ancient order that had been nearly wiped out by some evil warlord. With any luck, it would be the same villain that had gotten Kaguya stuck in this place. Having compatible goals would help them form a quick bond and become more efficient on the battlefield. And of course the healer would be dressed in the appropriate outfit, some sort of glossy white robe that left out the middle part for some inexplicable reason as well as exposed large amounts of cleavage. Kaguya wondered if that meant that she would have to wear something similar, only in red. If so, then she should probably look into finding a long staff carved from a precious metal and set with mystic runes. She didn't need one of course, but no self-respecting mage would be caught dead without one…

…

Mokou closed her fist and the rush of flame cut off immediately.

She surveyed the devastation beneath her. In a way it was impressive, but the knowledge that it was really just a bunch of dead grass killed in satisfaction she might have gained.

Then she looked up. Kaguya was now a dot in a distance, flying away toward who knew where.

Mokou considered sending a seeker spell after her. Even though she had been doing it since a time out of mind, killing Kaguya never got old. But unfortunately it would be a waste of energy, if their previous encounter had been any indication.

She briefly considered just letting the extraterrestrial murderer go. Kaguya was so incompetent at looking after herself that she would probably just end up killing herself without Mokou needing to lift a finger. And with any luck, the rules of this bizarre world would shift again and negate her immortality. Why, that would…

No.

No, no, no.

No way. Not happening.

If there was one thing that Mokou could claim with definite certainty, it was that Kaguya was a horrible waste of space that needed to be removed from the world as often and as painfully as possible. But a close runner up would be that the job of removing the Moonbitch was hers and hers alone. To have put so much blood, sweat, and bullets into Kaguya's continued demise only to have some random asshole swoop down and finish the job for her was…unthinkable. In which case she would have to take steps to prevent that from happening.

With a hiss Mokou swooped down below the tops of the columns. And, keeping an eye on Kaguya's retreating figure, she began to follow.

…

…though of course one of them would end up being a traitor, selling the party out to the evil overlord for some favor or another. It was usually the sneaky one. They were called rogues for a reason, after all. But there would probably be extenuating circumstances, such as a hometown being held hostage or the promise of a loved one's return, and the traitor would redeem themselves by…

Kaguya looked down. She came to a surprised stop. She had been so wrapped up in her anticipation of the journey ahead that she had failed to realize that she was no longer flying over ridiculously tall cylinder lawns. Rather, the landscape had smoothed itself out into a flat plain of sun-burnt grass. A well-worn road cut its way down the center.

A grin spread its way over Kaguya's face. Now she was getting somewhere! Roads, especially ones that had seen regular traffic, meant that she was not far from civilization. She looked up down the road as far as her eyes could see. There seemed to be a line of short hills in the distance, and beyond that she got a glimpse of a glistening…something. But she couldn't make it out. Kaguya's eyes were admittedly not that great.

Still, it was a step in the right direction. In fact, she had just caught sight of someone else, someone who was definitely not Mokou. An old man dressed in the weathered clothes of a farmer sat in a cart drawn by a single grey horse. A carved wooden pipe sat loosely between his lips. The cart was filled with several large jars which were covered by a sheet.

Kaguya quickly checked herself over to make sure she was at least presentable. Even though the family to whom she owed her royal title had disowned her long ago (and had been disowned in turn), some habits died hard, even after several centuries. And it simply wouldn't do to make a poor first impression to an old man, even if she was technically his senior.

She closed her robe the best she could and ran her fingers through her hair. Not much, but it was the best she could do on short notice. Then she swooped down toward him.

"Ahoy there!" she called. "Old man!"

The old man turned in his seat to squint at her. "Aye?" he said. His voice sounded like a creaking rocking chair. "And who might you be, young lady?"

Kaguya was about to give her name before she remembered what a bad idea that would be until she had learned more. "A lost traveler in need of direction," she said as her feet touched dirt. "Tell me, is there town or village nearby?"

The old man took his pipe out of his mouth and regarded her with skeptical eyes. "You've a strange manner of speaking. And it's odd, seeing a nice looking girl like you, out here by herself. You're not from around here, are you." It was not a question.

Kaguya shook her head. "No, I've…run into a bit of bad luck, and would greatly appreciate any help you can offer."

"Eh." The old man stuck his pipe back in his mouth. "Well, far be it from me to turn away a young lady in need of help, but I can't help but feel a tad bit suspicious. There's been many a fool led to misfortune by a pair of sad eyes in a pretty face, if you catch my drift."

It took Kaguya a moment to understand what he was saying. "I'm not working with bandits or traveling youkai gangs, if that's what you're thinking."

"Would be lying if I said the thought didn't cross my mind," the old man said. "You can never be too careful. Had a friend who…" Then he shrugged. "Still, if you are what you say you are, then if you head yonder about…oh, I'd say five meters or so, you'll find yourself in Kamakura."

That name rang a bell in Kaguya's memory, though it was a faint one. "And that's a settlement of some kind, right?"

The old man raised a single eyebrow. "You really aren't from here. Kamakura's the biggest center of business for miles. Comes with having the only decent dock this side of the Saltlick Sea. How could you have gone this long without knowing that?"

The bell was getting louder, but not loud enough for Kaguya to recall any of the town's history. Still, she did know of the Saltlick Sea, which meant she was still in Gensokyo. That in itself was a huge relief. "Sorry, I'm not too familiar with this area. Thanks for the tip though."

Kaguya started to rise into the air again when the old man said, "Hold up." He leaned forward and squinted at her.

"Do I know you, young lady?"

Kaguya froze. It was entirely possible that her reputation had preceded her and the old man had seen a picture or read a description. Eientei had become a subject of interest ever since they had gone public.

But it would be unwise to assume that such was the case. The heroes in the stories she had read didn't last long by taking chances, especially with strangers. "Uh, I don't think so…"

"Yeah, I do. I mean, not personally, but I know your face from somewhere…" Then his eyes widened. A wide grin split his leathery face and he snapped his fingers. "Well, I'll be damned! You're not _the _Princess Kaguya Houraisan, are you?"

Well, so much for being sneaky. "I…no?"

The old man laughed. "Ah, don't be modest. It is you! Damn, do you really think there's anyone here for miles that don't know your face?"

"Is this a good thing?"

"A good thing? I'd sure say it is! You're a bonafide Lunarian princess, after all!" The old man's grin grew even wider. "Not to mention people are calling you the single most beautiful creature since Benzaiten. And if you don't mind an old man's honesty, I'm not seeing any reason to disbelieve the stories."

Despite herself, Kaguya was starting to feel flattered. "Well, thank you! I hadn't known I was so well known in these parts."

"Why wouldn't you be? You're Princess Kaguya Houraisan, for the gods' sake! Say, I hope this isn't too bold on my part, but if you're getting tired of flying about you're more than welcome to ride along. I sure wouldn't say no to the company."

"Well…sure! Why not?" Completely forgetting her previous caution, Kaguya floated a few feet in the air and settled down in the space the old man had made for her.

The old man laughed again. "I can't believe this," he said as flicked the reins, starting the horse into a walk. "Wait until I tell everyone who rode along in my cart. I'll be telling this story for years!"

"Oh really? I don't know if it's all that…Say, this is going to sound like an odd question, but do you know where I can get my hands on a staff? Not the walking stick kind, but something with little more class…"

…

Mokou crouched in the grass and watched as Kaguya spoke to some old fool in a cart. Unfortunately she couldn't creep in close enough to make out exactly what they were saying. Kaguya had an uncanny sense of when Mokou was around, and she didn't dare risk triggering that.

Still, it was obvious that the old man was very pleased to see her. At first Mokou assumed that Kaguya was using her wiles to wheedle favors out of him, but it eventually become apparent that he knew who she was.

Mokou's mouth set in a straight line. Even here in the middle of nowhere, the Moonbitch had a fan club. How utterly typical. She did nothing beyond absorb silly stories and throw parties and people still treated her like someone that mattered.

If only to punctuate the point, Kaguya jumped into the chart next to old man and started talking to him like they had known each other for years.

Bit by bit, Mokou slinked forward, shadowing the pair as they made their way down the road.

…

As the old man (who introduced himself as Taketori no Okina) has claimed, Kamakura was a seaside town, and apparently prosperous for it. It sat on the opposite slope of the hills Kaguya had seen, leading down to the Saltlick Sea. Several watercraft of various sizes and purposes, from small fishing vessels to large merchant ships, floating in an artificial harbor that had been created using two long piles of rocks that curved out from either side of the town like a pair of arms.

The town itself was evidently a center for business. Every other building was a shop of some kind, selling everything from clothing to jewelry to foodstuffs to tools to slaves to dental services. Several small stands had been set up along the street as well, providing items of lower quality for lower prices.

And everywhere were people. Wealthy people in fine robes and oiled hair, poor people in dirty clothes, merchants, laborers, farmers, weavers, hunters, men, women, and children. They filled the sloping streets, pressing against one another as they went about their ways.

Kaguya found it to be incredibly fascinating. Everywhere she looked she saw something new: a new fashion, a new hair style, a new delicacy, a new type of hat.

And the smells! The aroma of roasted fish, curry and cooking rice rose into the air to mix with the stench of dozens of bodies, not all of them washed, and the dust of the streets. It was almost overwhelming.

Okina took notice. "You doing okay?"

"I'm fine," Kaguya said. "It's just a great deal to take in all at once."

"Huh. Pardon me for saying so, but you don't get out much, do you?"

With a grin she shook her head. "Not really, no. Eientei's pretty out of the way, and the closest real town is several miles away."

"Eientei? What's that?"

Kaguya blinked. "Seriously? You think I'm the greatest thing ever and you've never heard of-"

A young man carrying a bag of vegetables stepped around the cart as he walked past. He instinctively glanced up at the cart's passengers and back down again. Then he froze. His head snapped up and he stared.

"Princess _Kaguya!" _he breathed.

"Huh?" she looked down at him. "You know me too?"

Instead of answering, he turned to the crowd and started shouting, "Everyone! It's her! It's Princess Kaguya Houraisan! She's come!"

His words garnered an immediate reaction. The babble of the crowd died down immediately and all eyes turned to the cart.

"See?" Okina said in a loud whisper. "I told you!"

Kaguya looked from one gaping face to the next. They were all looking at her as if she were an angel descended from heaven. All in all, a surprising reaction, but far from unpleasant.

"Well," she said. "Hello! Nice to see-"

"It _is _her," one woman said to another. "I don't believe it."

"Never thought I'd see the day," an older man said with a whistle. "Wait 'til I tell Mugi about this!"

"Well, thank you!" Kaguya said. "I had no idea I was so-"

"Kaguya, Kaguya," someone in the crowd began to chant. Everyone else seemed to like the sound of that, because they joined in a moment later.

"Kaguya! Kaguya! Kaguya! Kaguya!"

Dumbfounded, Kaguya looked around at the crowd that had gathered to bask in her presence, each and every one of them chanting her name. She didn't consider herself to be especially vain, but damn she could get used to this.

…

It couldn't be.

Mokou stared in disbelief as the cart Kaguya was riding on entered the seaside town. That in itself wasn't worthy of comment, beyond the fact that tracking Kaguya would probably become more difficult, but it was the town in question that froze Mokou in place.

It was Kamakura. It had to be. It had been years since Mokou (or anyone else) had seen it, but she remembered what it looked like perfectly. After all, she saw it in her dreams at least once a month. But how could that be possible? After all, it had been destroyed more than a lifetime ago. There wasn't even a pile of ash remaining.

Mokou shook her head. She didn't know what sort of world she had fallen into, but it was clear that it had a sick sense of humor.

Careful not to draw attention, Mokou slipped out of the tall grass and followed the cart into the town.

Inside, it was much the same as she remembered: way too many people in too small a space. Mokou immediately felt a sense of claustrophobia as the crowd pressed in almost immediately. She had to push and shove her way forward just to keep in sight of the cart.

_This was a stupid idea, _she thought. She looked up at the rooftops. _Should've followed her from above. In fact, I think I-oof!_

She stumbled forward when someone rudely bumped her shoulder. She looked up to see large man shooting her a poisonous glare before walking away.

Mokou's eyes narrowed. She took a step forward to teach the punk some manners only to have someone else shove her to the side as they walked past.

Now that she was paying attention to the crowd, Mokou began to realize that no one seemed happy to see her. Everywhere she looked people were fixating her with angry stares and muttering to one another.

Ice water surged through Mokou's veins as she felt an icy flash of recognition. She had experienced this scene before. She had experienced it many times. And if people were glaring and whispering about her, then that meant that at any moment…

Almost if as on cue, everyone down the street broke out into sudden cheering. "Kaguya! Kaguya! Kaguya!" they chanted over and over. Mokou stood up on tiptoe and peered over the heads of the crowd to see Kaguya being lifted up onto someone's shoulders and paraded about while everyone shouted her name. The princess herself seemed to be enjoying the attention as she was smiling and waving to everyone.

"Shit," Mokou cursed. "Not this again."

She turned around. Sure enough, people had started to circle around behind her, cutting off her escape. They stood with folded arms and hostile expressions on their faces.

Mokou flexed one hand and tried to summon up a fireball. But, true to formula, her powers had left her again. Next she tried to fly off the ground, only to experience no success.

The mob started to advance on her, just like they always did. She would try to run, but they always caught her. And then the pain would begin.

Mokou took a fearful step backward. And then an interesting thought occurred to her.

_Wait, this time I can actually remember all the other times. _She frowned. _And this doesn't feel the same as before. It's more real, as if it's actually happening. And I may have lost my powers, but I don't feel physically weak or slow. _She began to smile. _Which means…_

The nearest assailant came within reach, his arms extended and hands ready to grab her. Normally at this point she would curl up into a helpless ball and start crying out in fear. But this time around, she settled for ducking under his grasp, grabbing his right arm, twisting it around, and pressing it against his back. He stumbled in surprise and tried to pull away.

So she applied the smallest bit of pressure. His shoulder popped right out of its joint. She followed this up by shoving his forearm down and bringing her knee down on it. The bone snapped with a very satisfying sound.

Mokou kicked the writhing man out of the way and turned to face his fellows. She cracked her knuckles and twisted her neck from side to side, feeling the vertebrae pop. "Come on, boys," she snarled. "You want revenge again? Fine. But this time, I'm not going to make it easy for you."

The mob seemed to accept her terms as fair. As one, they charged.

…

"Princess Kaguya! Please bless my child! He's been sick with dysentery for days!"

"Of course! May he be healed and all that! There, all good!"

"Princess, please speak to my brother on my behalf! He refuses to surrender my portion of the inheritance!"

"You got it, worshipful disciple guy! Brother person, stop being a jackass!"

"My lady, please accept this offering on the behalf of your lowliest subject!"

"Hey, thanks! Mmmm, shrimp-kabob! Haven't had this since…" A sudden nearby commotion attracted her attention. "Wait, what?"

Kaguya found the celebration of the awesomeness that was her suddenly interrupted a riot broke out. People started yelling and fists started flying, all concentrated around a singular point in the center of the street.

"What's going on?" Kaguya shouted down at Okina, who was standing next to the large man on whose shoulders she was riding.

The old man's eyes narrowed. "It's her," he hissed. He reached into his clothing and pulled out a short machete.

"Who? What are…Ah, what am I saying? Who else would it be?"

If for no other reason than to provide a visual aid, the center of the commotion exploded outward as Fujiwara no Mokou leapt into the air. She leapt onto a nearby man's shoulders, wrapped her legs around his neck and arms around his forehead and quickly twisted around so that both she and the man's head were facing the opposite direction. Before his lifeless body slumped to the ground she was already off his shoulders and climbing up a nearby wall like a monkey.

The whole maneuver took less than five seconds.

Kaguya started to struggle against the strong arms holding onto her legs. "Put me down!" she shouted. "She'll be after me in a minute!"

But either the roar of the crowd was too loud or he was enjoying the sensation of having a beautiful young girl ride around on his shoulders too much to let something as trivial as an impending attack from a psychotic killer to let her go, because he continued to hold her right where she was.

"Hey, are you listening?" Kaguya screamed. "I said-"

Mokou had gained enough altitude. She leapt at Kaguya, hands outstretched and going right for her throat.

"-oh, too la-Gah!"

Mokou slammed into her, knocking her off the large man's shoulders and driving her to the ground. Her fingers dug into Kaguya's neck with a vice-like grip and her eyes blazed with pure hate.

"Not this time," Mokou seethed. "This is my dream, not yours. Not this time, Moonbitch."

If she were capable of breathing, Kaguya might have asked Mokou what in the hell she was talking about. However, Mokou's fingers were like steel. Kaguya couldn't so much as squeak.

Then several pairs of hands grabbed Mokou by the shoulders, waist, arms hair and anything else they could get a hold of and pulled her off of Kaguya. Kaguya's hand went to her throat as she started coughing.

Despite being outnumbered several dozen to one, Mokou continued to struggle against her assailants. She kicked, she scratched and she bit, at one point nearly tearing a woman's finger clean off with her teeth alone.

And then she broke free from their arms and launched herself right at Kaguya. But by that time, Kaguya had recovered enough to drive her foot into Mokou's stomach. The fire-loving girl's eyes bulged and she fell back with an "_Oomph!"_

The crowd was on her at once. In short order, her arms were pulled behind her back and her face shoved into the dirt.

Kaguya pushed herself up into a sitting position. "Okay, that's enough!" she croaked. "Let her up, I need to ask her some-"

She was knocked down again as everyone behind her rushed forward to pile onto Mokou.

"Hey!" Kaguya shouted as she had to roll out of the way to keep from getting trampled upon. She clawed her way to the closest alleyway and ducked out of the way. "What are doing? Is that any way to treat Princess Kaguya? Hey!"

Everyone ignored her as they rushed past. Mokou was pulled up from the ground and hoisted above the mob's heads and carried kicking and screaming off toward the shore. Everyone followed, their fists pumping the air.

Soon Kaguya was left alone. Eyes darting in confusion, she stood to her feet and took a hesitant step onto the now empty streets. Further down the slope, she could see the mob as it continued to move away, but where she was things were very still.

She sighed. "I guess that's it," she said to herself. "Should've known it was too good to last. Weird people."

Mumbling to herself, she took stock of herself. Her robe was now covered with dirt and torn in a couple places. The rest of her hadn't fared much better, though the fresh scrapes she had accumulated were already starting to close.

She brushed herself off the best she could and started down the hill. She may have lost her worshipful populace in record time, but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy whatever they were going to do to Mokou. With any luck, she might be able to contribute.

…

Mokou's shoulders were shoved roughly into the sand. She had been carried down to the street and to the water's edge. Which meant that the end was coming.

Strong hands held her limbs in place as fists reigned down from above, pummeling her body. Joints snapped, bones splintered and soft flesh was reduced to pulp as the onslaught continued on and on, just as it always did.

Despite this, Mokou was surprised to find that she was not afraid. Every time she had experienced this scene in the past, the sheer terror had been worse than the pain. But now that her conscious mind was in control, she noted that being beaten to death by the mob was actually less painful than some of the things she had suffered during the times when Kaguya had gotten creative.

Still, it was starting to get a little repetitive. She just wished that they would hurry up and get to-

The smell of smoke filled her nostrils.

-ah, there it was.

…

From her place at back of the crowd, Kaguya let out a slow whistle of appreciation. She didn't know what Mokou had done to piss these people off, but it had to have been magnificent. Mokou did have a knack for inspiring murderous rampages of revenge in her enemies.

It didn't look like there was much space for her to squeeze in, unless she wanted to fly above their heads and try to pull Mokou out (and that was such a bad idea on many, many levels), so Kaguya settled for grabbing a handful of strawberries from a nearby deserted fruit stand and enjoying the view.

That was when smoke started to rise from the riot's center. Kaguya frowned and leaned in closer. Was she…

The crowd burst into cheers as Mokou's now flaming body was lifted above their heads. For a moment Kaguya thought that Mokou was finally starting to fight back, but no. She had not surrounded herself with fire, she had been _set _on fire.

Kaguya rolled her eyes. That never worked. One of the many annoying things about Mokou is that thanks to her natural control over flame and the many charms she had coated her clothing with, she was completely fireproof. Trying to set her alight usually just resulted in a nasty shock as she returned said flames to sender.

However, this time it wasn't happening. Mokou continued to burn like anyone else would upon being set on fire, and if her convulsions were any indication, she was not enjoying herself. The crowd carried her onto one of the many docks sticking out into the water (how were they doing that without getting scorched themselves anyway?) and, once they were far enough, threw her into the sea.

Kaguya quirked an eyebrow. Well, _that _was unexpected.

Now that their object of hate had been disposed of, the anger simply went out of the crowd. Their unity dispersed immediately, and they all calmly walked back to the city and started wandering off in different directions.

Kaguya swallowed the last strawberry and ran over to the nearest person. "Hey!" she shouted. "Question: what in the world was-"

He walked right past her without taking notice.

Kaguya tried again, this time with a mother and daughter. "You two! Please explain why-"

Once again, it was as if they didn't even see her.

"-or you can just walk away like a deaf idiot. Hello!" She waved her arms around. "Can anyone see me? You were worshipping me just a second ago. Well, your goddess doesn't like being ignored! Do you want me to start smiting?"

Nobody was impressed with her divine anger.

Kaguya rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. Forget you guys. Assholes." With that, she stomped off down the same dock they had flung Mokou off of.

Pieces were starting to come together in her mind. She was starting to suspect that she had figured out where she was. It wasn't a happy conclusion, but it could be worse.

She stopped at the dock's end and stared down at the rippling water.

Still, she did need more information, and right now the only person that might actually acknowledge her existence both hated her and was a charred corpse under several feet of murky water.

Life was cruel like that sometimes.

…

Mokou grimaced as consciousness returned to her. Returning from the dead was a regular was a regular occurrence for her, but this was the first time she had suffered death by immolation. She couldn't say she much cared for it, but she took heart in the knowledge it happened to Kaguya far more frequently. If anything this unpleasant encounter provided useful research data for future killings.

For the moment, she lay still, letting herself heal. Crisped skin flaked away as a new pearl-white layer pushed up from underneath. Shriveled nerves stretched out and became whole. Silvery lavender hair snaked out of her skull spread out in all directions. Then the enchantments Mokou had spent good money for started to take effect and her clothing started to regenerate, covering her healing flesh.

When she judged herself to be sufficiently repaired, Mokou opened her new eyes.

Kaguya was there, staring down at her.

Mokou groaned and shut them again. "What a sight to wake up to," she muttered. "Can I be dead again? Please?"

"Love to, but not now. Get up."

Mokou sighed and sat up. She and Kaguya were sitting on a beach, about half a mile away from Kamakura. Kaguya's robe had been removed and set down next to her, leaving her in her shirt and shorts. "I suppose I have you to thank for pulling me out of my watery grave?" Mokou grumbled as she scratched the back of her neck.

"Don't read too much into it. I needed to ask you some questions, and didn't feel like waiting for you to learn how to swim."

"Hey, I _know _how to swim, I just don't like-"

"Save it. What's going on?"

Mokou moved her body around and leaned back against a nearby rock. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know what I mean. Why did those people hate you so much?"

"Why don't you ask them? They seemed to like you well enough."

Kaguya sighed. "They started ignoring me right after they threw you in the water. I can't even get them to look at me."

"Yeah? I'm not surprised. The scene was over. They didn't need you anymore."

"Scene?" Kaguya raised an eyebrow. "Explain please."

Mokou considered telling the Lunarian to piss off again, but decided against it. "Well, for starters, this town here, it's called-"

"Kamakura, I know. Talked to one of the locals a little bit before they crowned me queen for like a minute."

Mokou grinned. "Poor Kaguya, you just can't hold onto royal titles, can you? But yeah, this is Kamakura all right. Used to love coming here as a kid. It was only a few miles from the family manor, and Fa-"

Her voice suddenly caught in her throat. Mokou paused, took a moment to steady herself and continued.

"They'd let me tag along with the servants sometimes, when they'd go to get food and other stuff."

"Servants? You?"

"My family was nobility, you stupid bitch," Mokou snarled. "Remember?"

Kaguya shrugged. "Not really, no. So, you knew this place as a kid. So what?"

"You knew it too. In fact I'm pretty sure this…this is where Father met you."

"Oh? Sorry, still can't remember. I was meeting prospective young men all the time, after all. Just my luck that that one so happened to have beget a lunatic."

Mokou wondered how much time would be wasted if she picked up a rock and jammed it into Kaguya's eye. Probably too much. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. It's gone. Doesn't exist anymore."

"Really?" Kaguya looked over Mokou at the town in question. "Seems all right to me."

"That's the point. This is a fake, it has to be. The real one was destroyed. Burned down more than a millennium ago."

"Oh, did it?" Kaguya said. "One wonders who dropped that match."

Mokou snarled but she didn't deny the suggested accusation. "But the thing is, I still have dreams about it. Well, one dream. One where-"

"Everyone is treating me like a queen and beating you to death?"

"Exactly," Mokou sighed.

"And then they set you on fire and throw you in the water?"

"Every time."

"Wow, aren't you a mess of insecurities."

"Fuck off, Kaguya," Mokou snarled. "And let's stick to the main point here: we're in a city that doesn't exist anymore outside of reenacting a common scene from my dreams. And before that, we had a fight in mind-trip land where both of our powers started acting out of whack. So, I'm thinking it's pretty obvious where we are."

Kaguya folded her arms. "As much as it pains me to agree with you, I think I've reached the same conclusion. The Dream World?"

Mokou closed her eyes. "Yeah. The Dream World."

"Well, it could be worse," Kaguya said. "As I understand it, this place does have an actual ruler. Well, rulers. All I'll have to do is find them and ask them to send me home."

"Yeah? And where does that leave me?"

"Figure that out yourself."

Kaguya rose to her feet. She picked up her robe, threw it over her shoulder and started to walk away. Mokou stared after her.

"Hey!" Mokou shouted. She jumped to her feet. "You're just going to leave me here? I mean, you went through all the trouble to drag out of the water…"

"Why not? I already got what I want from you. Besides, you wanted nothing to do with me, remember?"

"But…but it's _the Dream World. _You can't just leave me here alone!"

Kaguya turned to face her. "Oh, now you want to team up? That's a surprise. Weren't your words to the effect of…what was it again? 'Piss off and die'? Something down those lines."

"Situation's changed. I didn't know where we were."

Kaguya smirked. "What's wrong, are you scared of dreams? Afraid the boogeyman is gonna get you?"

Mokou glared but she didn't contradict her. "So, yeah. About that team-up idea?"

"This really is the world of dreams," Kaguya muttered. She sighed. "Okay, fine. Tag along if you must. But until we get out of here, we have a truce, got it? No murder attempts, no leaving the other person to die unless absolutely necessary, no hiring other people to kill each other, and so on and so forth. Agreed?"

Mokou's face fell. "This is going to suck." She shook her head. "Okay, fine. But just so we're clear, this is not going to be like those children's stories you like so much. I don't want any stupid best friend bonding. That's the last thing I need."

"Hey, I told you already! 'When Cicadas Cry' is _not _a…" Kaguya caught herself with a grimace. "Forget it. And agreed. In fact, I plan on killing you in the most painful way I can think of the moment we get home."

"Heh, you're welcome to try," Mokou said with a weak grin.

Kaguya started walking again. This time, Mokou followed.

For a long time neither of them said anything. What was there to say? They had known each other longer than most nations had lasted, and yet their relationship was founded upon mutual hatred and the desire to watch the other suffer. Compatibles goal or no, it wasn't something you just got over.

In fact, Mokou was having serious doubts about their chances of success. It was taking an inordinate amount of willpower to not reach over and pull Kaguya's head right off of her body, and she was sure her rival was feeling the same way.

Still, what choice did she really have? Kaguya was the only other person that Mokou knew for a fact existed, and could therefore be at least trusted not to start falling into that strange behaviors people in dreams often adopted. And Mokou did _not _want to be stuck in the Dream World alone. Even having Kaguya for company was better than that, if not by much.

That was when Kaguya stopped suddenly. She stared out at the sea.

Mokou frowned. "What's up with you?"

"Look!"

Mokou turned in the direction she was pointing.

There, standing in the surf, was another girl. She looked like she had been through a rough time. Her thin and tattered black dress clung tightly to her body. Her blond was plastered to her skull and hung down around her thin face in strings. She was breathing heavily from exhaustion and seemed to be having trouble standing upright.

But strangest of all was the ornate curving sword she clutched limply in one hand.

Mokou was immediately on her guard. She summoned flame to her palms and was pleased when they obeyed. At her side, Kaguya had dropped her robe and fallen into a defensive position. Multicolored sparks started to dance between her fingers.

The newcomer slowly trudged toward them. Mokou tensed herself and prepared to unleash an inferno.

Then the newcomer took one step out of the water and fell face-first into the sand. Her sword fell from her fingers and landed with a wet _plop!_

Mokou and Kaguya exchanged a look.

"So…" Kaguya began.

"Yeah," Mokou finished for her.

They looked back to the girl, who was spitting out wet sand as she weakly pushed herself up on her palms.

"Ugh…" the girl groaned. She looked up to see Mokou and Kaguya staring.

"Oh, uh," she said. She seemed to be struggling with her own tongue. "Nyuh…"

"Nyuu?" Kaguya suggested.

The girl's face twisted into an expression of confusion. "What? What does that mean?"

"Nothing, just seemed like the thing to say. You want something?"

"Uh, yeah. Are you guys Kaguya Houraisan and Fujiwara no Mokou?"

Mokou stiffened immediately. At her side, Kaguya did the same.

"Who wants to know?" Kaguya demanded.

The girl sat up on her knees. "Me? A prisoner of this place, just like you guys. My name's Rumia. Rumia Yagami. And believe you me, you guys need to hear what I have to say."

…

_Oh, that can't be good._

_Anyway, not a whole lot to say about this chapter, except that yes, I plan to milk the whole "Kaguya's a NEET" meme for every drop it's worth._

_Until next time, everyone!_


	3. Quest Flag

Quest Flag

_Nothing made any sense._

_Everything had been so strange all week. Everyone had been acting so weird. The servants spoke in hushed whispers, Umakai and Maro were avoiding her and Father was barely around. And Mother…she didn't know what was wrong with her. Something must have made her extra tired, because all she did was sleep._

_And to make things even more frustrating, every time she tried to ask something about it they always looked at her weird and changed the subject. And when she demanded that they answer her, they would just start talking to her like she was a little baby. It wasn't fair. She was ten years old already! Why couldn't they just tell her what was wrong?_

_And so one evening she decided to find out. She crept from her room, careful to slide the door shut behind her, and tip-toed through the mansion._

_She slowed even further as she approached Mother's room. Even so late at night there were people inside. She could hear them talking in low murmurs through the thin paper door._

"…_can't be long now, I'm surprised she's lasted as…"_

"_Shhh! Don't say such things!"_

_It was Father's voice. She leaned in closer._

"_But still, you'll have to tell your daughter sooner or later."_

"_I know. Just not now."_

"_Fuhito, you cannot-"_

"_Please. You'll wake her."_

"_Then perhaps we should speak…Wait, who's there?"_

_Her heart leapt in her throat as the door started to slide open. She whirled on her ankle to flee, but her feet slipped from under her and she fell to the floor with a cry of alarm._

_Then she looked up to see Father staring down at her. "What are you doing?" he demanded. "Why are you out of bed? How long have you been listening? Answer me!"_

"_I…uh…"_

_He reached down and grabbed her by the elbow. "I thought I told you to go to bed!" he shouted as he started to pull her down the hall. She scrambled to get her feet under her, and as she did she caught a glimpse of the interior of Mother's room._

_There were several adults standing inside, all staring at her. She recognized family members: aunts and uncles and cousins. There were also some of Father's friends, two of Mother's maidservants and the town doctor. But she did not take notice of any of these. Her eyes were focused on her Mother._

_She lay upon her futon with several blankets piled on top of her. A damp towel was folded up and laid across her forehead. And her face…_

_It was ravaged. A spiderweb of purple veins was covering cheeks that had been swollen to almost twice their natural size. Her eyes were shut tight and crusted with mucus. Her breathing was shallow and labored._

"_Mother?" _

_Father grimaced and pulled harder, practically dragging her away._

"_Mother? Wait, what's wrong with her? Father, what are you-Mother! Wait, Mother!"_

_He ignored her cries and continued to pull her away from Mother's room. She struggled, stretching out her free hand to those gathered but receiving only pitying looks in return. What was going on? What had happened to Mother? Was she sick? Why didn't they want her to see? It was all so confusing…_

Nothing made any sense.

Of course, what did these days? A few short minutes ago, Mokou had found herself falling through the sky of some sort of bizarre world with glitching abilities and no respect for the laws of reality to be found. And right after experiencing a real-life enactment of one of her most unpleasant recurring nightmares, she ended up joining forces with none other than Princess Kaguya Houraisan, something that proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that if there was a God beyond the greedy little deities that wandered Gensokyo, then He or She had a very sick sense of humor and desperately needed to be punched in His or Her smug prick face.

At the moment, she was sitting cross-legged in the sand, listening as the strange girl who had risen from the sea holding a sword and introducing herself as Rumia did her best to explain the situation. Unfortunately the explanation Mokou was getting was only making things even more unbelievable.

The girl herself was leaning against a wave-smoothed rock with Kaguya's robe thrown around her like a blanket. Even if what she was saying was absolute bullshit (a position that Mokou was seriously considering), it was still obvious that Rumia had been through a rough time. Her blond hair was plastered to her skull in stringy wet ribbons and she was shivering violently.

In addition, Kaguya herself stood next to Mokou. That in itself was proof enough that things were horribly wrong.

"Okay, so let me see if I got this right," Kaguya said. "All three of us were eaten by a monster…"

"Well, 'absorbed' would be more accurate, but yeah," Rumia said.

"Don't interrupt me," Kaguya snapped. "And fine. Absorbed. Whatever. We got absorbed by a monster that had our consciousnesses floating around in its head, and that eventually got so awkward that it blocked off part of our memories and sent us…here?"

"That's more or less accurate."

"Which one is it?" Kaguya said. "More or less?"

Rumia sighed. "More."

"So…we're not in the Dream World?" Mokou asked.

"The Dream World?" Rumia shook her head. "Not really. I suppose the same principles apply though. This is an entirely independent dreamspace constructed by the monster using the part of your minds that normally interacts with the Dream World's essence. Also, your entire consciousness is here, which is why…"

She was stopped by a fit of coughing. Mokou and Kaguya waited for her to get it under control.

"Sorry," she said in a weak voice. "Had a hard time getting here."

"Yeah, okay," Kaguya said. "I'm seeing that. But in the meantime…prove it."

"Eh?"

Mokou unfolded her legs, stretching them out before her. "For once I actually agree with the Moonbitch. If you-"

"Will you stop calling me that?" Kaguya growled.

"You don't get to interrupt either," Mokou said. To Rumia, she said, "And as for you, okay, so your little rising from the ocean thing was all very dramatic. But still, you haven't done much to prove it. And it's true: there's some very freaky going on-"

"Now who's overstating the obvious?" Kaguya sneered.

Annoyed, Mokou ignited a white-hot flame at the end of her fingertip. She shot Kaguya a meaningful look.

The Lunarian princess was unimpressed. "Oh, so scary. We've got a truce, remember?" She turned back to Rumia. "So, how about it? What proof do you-"

Kaguya swayed from one side to the other as she talked, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. It was an insignificant movement, nothing more than an unconscious bit of fidgeting. However, to her immense surprise, she suddenly slipped and fell to her side, kicking up a small cloud of sand. Kaguya spat out grit and stared with horrified eyes at her leg, which now ended in a cauterized stump. Her foot remained standing in place, smoke rising from the charred ring above the ankle. She twisted around to look at Mokou, who was smirking in satisfaction.

"Hey," Mokou shrugged. "You only said we can't kill each other. There was nothing about dismemberment. Not my fault if you can't-"

"_You treacherous beast!" _Kaguya screeched. She heaved herself onto to her knees and lunged for Mokou's throat.

Mokou easily caught her by the wrists and held her back. "Whine, whine, whine," she said, sounding bored. "If you can't be specific about your terms of ceasefire, then you have no one to blame for yourself."

"Yeah?" Kaguya snarled. "Well, ceasefire this!"

Suddenly she twisted her wrists out of Mokou's grasp and seized onto Mokou's right arm with both hands. Electricity crackled, and the next thing Mokou knew her sleeve was burned away and the flesh cooked down to the bone, leaving a limp arm that was nearly skeletal.

"There," Kaguya said as she pushed herself away. "Now we're ev-Ooof!"

Mokou's kick caught her in the stomach. "Even?" Mokou yelled as she leapt onto Kaguya. "That was my whole freaking arm! I only took your foot!"

She wrapped her legs around Kaguya's torso and shoved her good arm against her rival's throat, pressing Kaguya's head into the sand. Kaguya grimaced as she groped at Mokou's own throat, trying to sink her fingers into Mokou's neck.

Suddenly strong fingers seized Mokou by the back of her shirt and yanked her off. Kaguya was likewise seized by the collar and hoisted up.

Rumia stood between the two combatants, holding them a safe distance from each other. Her eyes were still tired but determined. "Okay," she said. "Not saying that wasn't hilarious. But I we're going to get anywhere-"

Almost as if on cue, Mokou and Kaguya both turned and slammed their fists into her face. Rumia's eyes bulged and she flew backward to land in an untidy heap.

"Don't ever interrupt us," Mokou and Kaguya said in unison.

Rumia shook her head. She gingerly touched her fingers to her nose. There was a small spot of blood on the tips when she brought them away.

"Okay," she said. "Message received. Wow, it's been a long time since that happened."

"Too long, if you ask me," Kaguya muttered. She hopped over to crouch over the prone Rumia. At the end of her leg, a new foot was already starting to form. "And believe me: I'd love an excuse to do it again. Only this time, I'm thinking I send it all the way through your brain."

"Back off, Kaguya," Mokou said. Her own arm was starting to regenerate as well. It itched, but in the grand scheme of things a simple itch wasn't worthy of her attention. "We still need to pump her for more information."

"Don't tell me what to do," Kaguya muttered, but she straightened up and hopped back a couple of steps.

Rumia looked from one questioner to the other. "Okay, you guys call the shots. Fine, I get that. One question though."

Kaguya's gaze darkened. "Make it a good one."

"How the _hell _did you not notice that she was cutting off your foot?"

Kaguya blinked. It was evident that this was not the question she had been expecting. She looked over to Mokou, who just sighed and shook her head.

Kaguya rolled her eyes. "I've been getting burned alive by Mokou here for more than a millennium. Getting pieces of you burned off loses its novelty after awhile."

"Well, that's interesting," Rumia said. "And a little disgusting." She started to push herself back up, but Kaguya pressed the still-forming blob of her foot against her chest and pushed her back down.

"Nuh-uh," Kaguya said. "If you're strong enough to pull us apart, you're strong enough to answer questions. And you still haven't given me the proof I asked for."

Rumia glowered up at her, but she said, "Okay, fine. You want proof? I've got two words full of it."

Kaguya folded her arms and glowered.

"Rin," Rumia said. "Satsuki."

Mokou frowned. It sounded like a name, but it wasn't one she was familiar with. She glanced over to Kaguya, who also looked confused.

"What?" Kaguya said. "Is that supposed to mean something?"

Despite having a very irritated and very unkillable Princess Kaguya shoving her down into the sand, Rumia didn't look very intimidated. Quite the contrary, she was grinning like she was having the time of her life. "What, that name don't ring any bells? It should. Think, Kaguya. Think real hard."

Kaguya's frown twisted even further as she thought. "Wait, now that you mention it." She rubbed her chin. "There was something…"

"About nine years ago?" Rumia prodded. "Wiped out most of Eientei?"

Kaguya stared at her. Then, slowly but surely, her eyes began to widen. "Wait, wait are you…" She snapped her fingers. "Holy shit, that's right! Eirin's crazy monster! The one that kept eating my people and getting bigger and bigger! We had to call in a psychotic vampire to stop it!"

"That's the one," Rumia said.

Mokou scratched her head. "Wow," she said. "Yeah, I'm really glad you guys are on the same page. But how do you two feel about making something that even resembles sense?"

Kaguya's hands were trembling, but she managed to keep her voice under control. "Rin Satsuki was a pet of Eirin's that she started experimenting on. It went crazy, destroyed most of my home, and started to devour my people and absorb their strength."

Mokou stared. "You're kidding me."

"No, I'm not. We eventually had to use that crazy vampire Flandre Scarlet to stop it. We locked it up in a box and shoved it away where it couldn't hurt anyone anymore. Lousy week, all around."

"And where was I during all this?"

"I don't know, where were you?" Kaguya turned back to Rumia, who was still lying under the pressure of her now fully regenerated foot. "And how do you even know about Rin Satsuki in the first place?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Rumia said. "I was the first person she sucked up after getting loose. Then she came upon the two of you dancing your usual dance and nabbed you too. I guess she got sick of having us acting as angry voices in her head, because after that she triggered out subconscious or whatever it is and sent us all into this dream world to shut us up."

"Oh, for the love of…" Mokou muttered. "Kaguya, tell me you don't actually buy into this bullshit?"

Kaguya glanced at her. "As someone who was actually there the last time Rin Satsuki made a mess, I'm kind of inclined to."

"But it's ridiculous! I've gotten more believable stories out of fairies!"

Kaguya ignored her. "Can you tell me how Rin got loose?" she asked Rumia.

"Sure," Rumia said. "Can you let me up first? I think sand-gnats are starting to crawl into my hair."

Kaguya moved her foot, allowing Rumia to sit up. Rumia furiously shook out her hair, dislodging as many grains of sand as she could.

"That's gonna itch like a bitch later," Rumia muttered. She took a deep breath. "Okay, so here's the thing: you put Satsuki in a box, right? And gave her to the vampires?"

"Right," said Kaguya. "And they specifically told me that there was no way she could escape."

"Yeah, well, technically she didn't. She was set loose."

Kaguya's jaw dropped. "She swah?"

"Somebody stole the box right under Remilia Scarlet's nose. That's how Satsuki got out."

"Who?" Kaguya demanded. "Who would be so stupid as to steal _that?"_

"A human teenager," Rumia answered.

Mokou sighed. "Of course it was," she muttered. "It always is." She sat down and crossed her legs.

"To be specific, it was a witch-girl," Rumia continued. "One by the name of Marisa Kirisame. She's a recluse who lives in-"

"_Marisa?" _Kaguya screeched. "That little creep?"

"Oh," Rumia said. "You know her?"

For her part, Mokou wasn't surprised in the slightest. Marisa and thievery went together like married celebrities and scandal. It was simply inevitable.

"Know her?" Kaguya said. "Yeah, I know her! Do you realize how hard it is to keep her thieving ass out of Eientei?"

"Pretty hard?"

"Oh, you have no idea. Sometimes it seems like no matter how many times we up the security, the next week she's made off with a painting or a box of jewelry or something. And now she's gone and stolen a fucking freak of nature!"

"Sure seems to be the case," Rumia said. "Though in her defense, she didn't know what was inside. She said it just looked interesting."

"How do you know all this?" Mokou broke in. "Where do you figure into this story?"

Kaguya glared at her from over her shoulder. _"I'll _ask the questions, if you don't-"

"Shut up, Kaguya. And you, answer the question."

Rumia shrugged. "Well, after she got the box, she found that she couldn't get it open. Makes sense, as that really wasn't the sort of box you want people opening. Still, she wanted it open, so she hired me."

"You?" Kaguya said. "Why you?"

"Because getting into things is what I do. Ain't nothing in the world I can't squeeze through.

"That's what he said," Kaguya muttered. She was ignored.

Rumia continued. "Though boy-howdy did it backfire this time. I opened that thing up and found the weirdest looking thing I've ever seen in my life. It was like…a bubble, a clear water droplet or something, but a tough one."

Kaguya slapped a palm across her face and groaned out loud. "Sun, moon, and stars, that's her all right."

"Right. And like the idiot I am, I starting poking at the damned thing. I guess you can figure out what happened next."

"Yes," Kaguya said.

"No," said Mokou.

"It swallowed her," Kaguya told her. "Dissolved her body, absorbed her mind and stole her powers. And then it went after us."

"Pleasant. So why does she remember all this and we don't? Why didn't this monster wipe her memories?"

Rumia grinned. "Because of who I am. Or what I am. Let's just say that my talent for getting into things works both ways. This old mind of mine has so many failsafes that if anyone tried to break in, they'd quickly become very, very frustrated."

"What are you, some kind of lockbox youkai?" Mokou asked.

"A skeleton key, actually. One that got left in the master's desk too long."

"Seriously?" Kaguya asked.

"Hey, it happens. Once met a girl who used to be frying pan. So anyway, I found myself in my own little dream world as well. Didn't much care for it, so I dug myself out and went looking for you guys. And now here we are."

Mokou's brow furrowed. She looked over to the ornate sword Rumia had been carrying with her when she had risen from the sea, which was now lying against a rock.

"And the sword?" she asked.

"Oh, that's mine," Rumia said. "Had it on me when I got eaten. Found myself with it I woke up in Wonderland."

"Where'd you get it?"

"What is this, twenty questions? Wait for the autobiography like everyone else."

Mokou's eyes started to glow. She stood to her feet and started to walk toward the self-proclaimed lockbreaker. She flexed her right hand, which instantly burst into flame.

Predictably enough, Kaguya got in the way. "No, not happening. Sit down, you idiot. No scorching people until we've learned everything."

"So I can scorch her afterward?" Mokou said. "Very well, I accept your terms."

"No. No scorching anyone. Not her, and definitely not me."

"I didn't say anything about scorching you!"

"No, but you were thinking it."

"Of course I was. I always am. That doesn't mean I was going to do it. At least not right this minute."

Rumia raised her hand. "Far be it from me to interrupt your flirting, but this conversation is starting to get a little long. Can we get to the reason why I sought you guys out?"

"Now?" Mokou said. "Now can I scorch her?"

"Shut up already." Kaguya turned to Rumia. "All right, what's up?"

Rumia smoothed her dress out, though given that it was still damp and caked with mud the improvement was unnoticeable. "Well, the way I see it our dream worlds are connected. After all, I was able to dig my way out of mine to find yours. And based upon what I saw back at mine, these dream worlds are closely tied to our subconscious minds, to the extent that I believe we can actually find the center of our subconscious minds here."

"This is getting stupid again," Mokou muttered.

Kaguya's eyes narrowed. "No, it's not. Rumia, keep talking."

Rumia grinned. "What I'm saying here is that if we can travel from one subconscious mind to the other, who's to say we can't break our way into Rin Satsuki's?"

A stunned silence reigned over the beach. Mokou's mouth hung open as the significance of what Rumia was suggesting dawned on her. For her part, Kaguya seemed more contemplative than surprised. She rubbed her chin as she stared down at the sand.

Then Mokou spoke. "Okay. That's…interesting. Now, let's just say what you're proposing is even possible…"

"No reason it shouldn't be," Rumia said.

"Yes, there is. But let's just say it's possible. What…exactly would we do once we get there?"

"Oh, that's obvious. Bitch sucked us up and screwed with our minds. I'd say we're overdue for some payback. So once we get there…" Rumia snatched up her sword as a wide grin split her features. "We redecorate."

Kaguya put her hands on her hips. "Sounds good to me."

"Whoa, hold up," Mokou said. "You're just going to go along with this? We don't even know this girl! And now you're going to let her tag along? She has a freaking sword, for Christ's sake! I mean, at the very least we should put it to a vote."

"Good point. Let's do that." Kaguya looked over to Rumia. "So, what do you think? Should we let Mokou tag along?"

"I meant vote about her!" Mokou shouted. "And I was here first!"

"Hey, if this has to be a duo, then I'd rather have her than you," Kaguya said.

"You don't even know her!"

"But I know you. So I'll take her."

"Thanks," Rumia said. "I'm flattered."

"Shut up!" Mokou shouted. "You don't get a say!"

Rumia sighed. She glanced over to Kaguya. "Sounds like you made her jealous."

"If that's it, then it would certainly explain a lot," Kaguya said.

Mokou's face twisted into a grimace of fury. Her hands curled into claws and burst into flames. "If you think you two are just going to go off and leave me here, then you've got-"

"Calm down, fire bird," Rumia said. "You're coming too."

"I am?"

"She is?" Kaguya raised an eyebrow. "I don't recall agreeing to that."

"She has to," Rumia said. "We need her when we get to her subconscious's focal point. Can't dig out without her help. Why do you think I came looking for you guys instead of taking it on my own?"

"Because one-man raids more often than not end in failure," Kaguya said.

Rumia tilted her chin. "Believe me when I say I can handle myself in a fight. But I need help in this. So do you. Hers."

"I don't need your validation," Mokou hissed.

"Hey. Fire bird. Make up your mind. Do you want in on this or not?"

If looks could kill, then Rumia would have been reduced to nothing more than bones and ash. In fact, Mokou was sorely tempted to turn her into just that. Instead, good sense managed to win and she let the small suns she held flare out of existence.

"Fine," she said. "But talk down to me again and you'll find that spontaneous combustion is more than an urban legend."

"You're going to blow yourself up at me? A bit dramatic, don't you think?"

Mokou's palms ignited anew.

Kaguya sighed and pinched her nose. "Okay, knock it off already. You're both driving me nuts. If Mokou's coming, fine. But please don't make this more unbearable than it is already."

Mokou exchanged an angry glance with Rumia, but nodded and extinguished the flame. For her part, the newcomer just looked smug. Mokou made a mental note to melt the little prick's face at the earliest opportunity.

"So," Kaguya said. "Now that we're all best friends, there's still a couple things to work out. Rumia, you seem to know a fair bit of what's going on. What do we need to do next?"

Rumia shrugged. "Oh, that's easy. First we need to figure out whose subconscious we're in-"

Kaguya pointed to Mokou. "Hers."

"Mine," Mokou said as the exact same time."

"Well, that was easy," Rumia muttered. "Though it doesn't explain why Princess Kaguya's here and not in a world of her own."

"I don't know, maybe this world is a hybrid," Kaguya said. The Lunarian princess knelt down to pick up her robe from where Rumia dropped it. She started to brush the sand off. "Or maybe Satsuki wanted us to keep each other company. She is completely insane, you know."

"Fair enough. Okay Mokou, here's the deal: the best place for us to break out of here is the center of your little world. The heart. The focal point."

"How do you know that?" Mokou demanded.

"Hey, I'm a skeleton key. It's my job to know how to get in and out of things. How do you turn yourself into a walking forest fire? You just do."

"What is the focal point, exactly?" Kaguya asked. "I mean, how would we identify it?"

"Eh, that's simple enough. Some place that means something to you. Some place that's emotionally significant, that whole thing."

"Oh, that's easy then," Kaguya said. "Eientei."

Mokou's eyes boggled. "Wait, the hell? What are you talking about?"

Rumia seemed to be just as confused. "Uh, yeah. Isn't that where _you _live? Why would your home be her focal point?"

"Simple," Kaguya said with a smug smile. "Little Mokou here has spent the better part of a thousand years obsessing over me. Even when she's in that little peasant's hovel she calls a home, she's still thinking about me. Her entire life revolves around annoying me, so it only makes sense that her subconscious would be focused around my home."

"Oh, come on!" Mokou protested. "I do have other interests you know!"

"No, you really don't."

"Okay, okay, stop it," Rumia said. "It's worth checking out at least. How do we get there from here?"

"Look, it's not Eientei," Mokou said.

"Huh." Kaguya frowned and folded her arms. "Well, this is the Saltlick Sea, right? So the Bamboo Forest of the Lost should be to the southeast from here."

"That's assuming the geography here is the same as back home," Rumia said. "This is a dream, after all. For all we know things could be completely random."

"Except that it's not Eientei," Mokou said. "You're wasting your time."

"Good point," Kaguya grumbled. "So we could end up wandering forever without ever finding it."

"I don't think so," Rumia said. "I was able to find mine without much problem. I think that wherever it is, it'll draw the fire bird here like a magnet."

"Huh, so Mokou might be useful after all. This day is just full of surprises. So when we find Eientei, what then?"

"It's not freaking Eientei already!" Mokou shouted.

Finally Kaguya took notice. "Would you stop that, please?" she said icily. "If you have nothing to contribute except for whining, then go sit in the corner and be silent."

"You guys have known each other way too freaking long," Rumia said.

"Thank you, I had figured that out," Kaguya said. "So, we're to just keep walking until the little matchstick girl here finds something, Eientei or otherwise, that makes her feel overcome with an excessive amount of emotion?"

"Actually, I was thinking we set her wandering about until she finds something that makes her feel overcome with an excessive amount of emotion, while we follow."

"That's almost exactly the same thing. And while I'm definitely in support of the 'Do unto Rin as she has done unto us' plan, I'd really like us to come up with something more concrete."

Mokou, it should be noted, had ceased to take part in the conversation. Her attention was focused on the landscape around them. She wasn't sure, but it looked like it was changing. The beach itself remained more-or-less the same, and about a mile away the seaside town of Kamakura was still in place, with ships coming and going. But there still seemed to be something strange going on.

Mokou looked around. She wasn't going to figure it out from here. Without a word she crouched down low and leapt into the air, sailing high above her irritating companion's heads.

Once she was a good distance above the ground, Mokou surveyed the area surrounding the town. Her lips pressed into a thin line. It was as she had thought. Things had just become much more complicated.

…

Kaguya stared up at the sky. "That was surprising. What set her off?"

Frowning, Rumia shielded her eyes as she glared at the floating immortal. "Probably just throwing a temper tantrum. Damn it, now we have to go after her."

"I really rather that we didn't. Chasing Mokou just makes her shoot these fireballs out of her feet. They're surprisingly accurate and can't be smothered easily."

"I told you, we need her help. If she's going to take off, then we have to-"

Mokou fell to the ground like a blazing meteor, kicking up an explosion of sand and creating a small crater.

"-never mind, problem solved."

Kaguya folded her arms as her surly rival pulled herself out of the crater. "And what was that all about? Feel the need to stretch your legs?"

Mokou shot her an acid look, but she declined to retort. "Okay, look. I still think what this freak here's been saying is bullshit-"

"Freak, huh?" Rumia muttered. "You're the one to talk."

"-but if it'll get us moving faster, then fine. Let's play along with her stupid game. There's just one problem though."

Kaguya glowered. "Oh? And what might that be?"

"This place has become an island. Most of the land around Kamakura is gone, and the stuff that's left is quickly disappearing. In about an hour this whole place will be nothing but water."

Kaguya gaped at her rival. "Wait, seriously?"

"Shit," Rumia muttered. "Should've figured it wouldn't be that easy."

"Yes, seriously!" Mokou said. "I saw it with my own eyes! You would have too, if you weren't so busy-"

Kaguya didn't even give her the chance to finish. Instead, she flew into the air, much as Mokou had just done. She went up and up and up, until she was high enough to see for kilometers around.

To her worry and utter annoyance, Mokou was right. Though Kamakura was still in place, all that remained of the landscape was a couple of kilometers of hillside in either direction and about a third of the field Kaguya had traveled through on the old man's cart. Furthermore, if she fixated her eyes on the land's edge, she could literally wasting away, bringing the water's edge closer and closer to the town's borders.

Well now, that presented a problem.

"See? I told you so."

Kaguya moved her body around to see Mokou floating next to her with her arms folded.

"Did you come up here just to say that?" Kaguya asked.

"I'm having a bad day. I'll take my satisfaction where I can find it."

Kaguya sighed but she didn't fire back. She just inclined her head and said, "Come on."

The two of them swooped back down toward the beach, where Rumia was sitting on a rock, waiting for them.

"Mokou was right," Kaguya said as she slowed down to land. "This whole place is-"

She was interrupted by a loud boom and a wave of sand that splashed all over her. She stood stock-still for a moment. Then she reached up with one hand and brushed the grit from her face and cleaned it from her eyes to see Mokou climbing out of a second crater.

"Why," Kaguya began "did you do that again?"

"Do what?"

"Are you two going to be doing this the whole trip?" Rumia asked.

"Why, would you rather I go back to trying to murder you?" Mokou said.

"Uh, no. That's quite all right," Rumia said hastily. "Carry on."

While they spoke, Kaguya was busy brushing herself off. If this sort of behavior was what she could expect from working with Mokou, then she was almost tempted to just forget the whole quest and learn to enjoy living in Wonderland. Almost.

"Anyway, like I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, this place is disappearing fast," Kaguya said.

"Which is exactly what I told you about a minute ago," Mokou said.

"Good for you. What do you want, a cookie? But yeah, we need to leave now. Rumia, can you fly?"

"Of course. Still a little shaky, but I can manage."

"Good. Then we'd better-"

"No, wait. Bad idea," Mokou said.

Kaguya glared at her. "Really, Mokou? Really? Are you going to argue with everything I say?"

Mokou returned the look. "Why break the habit of a lifetime? But beyond my desire to make your life miserable, flying's still a bad idea. Our powers are really wonky right now. I've lost my flight twice already, and I don't fancy doing an Icarus impression over open water."

"I…" Kaguya closed her eyes. "Damn it, you're right."

"So what do you suggest we do, swim?" Rumia said. "We're not exactly overburdened with an abundance of options here."

"I know, I know, I'm thinking," Kaguya muttered.

"My congratulations," Mokou said. "Though can I offer a suggestion?"

Kaguya opened one eye. "What?" she snapped.

In answer, Mokou gestured over to the town. Specifically, the harbor, where several boats were coming and going.

"If we need to cross the sea, then there are several vessels over there designed to do just that."

Rumia scratched her chin. "I don't know. Seems kind of risky to me. Who's to say they won't disappear as well."

"Then we try our hand at flying. And if that doesn't work, we swim."

"Long way to swim."

Mokou smiled. "You wanna know one of the best things about being immortal? Those sorts of things stop being an obstacle."

"So, you're suggesting that we try to convince one of the dream-people to take us across?" Kaguya said. "Hire a ferry?"

By this point, Mokou's hands were trembling at her sides, though her voice was calm and steady. "Oh, I said nothing about convincing anyone. Great thing about us being the only real people around is that we suddenly have more options then you'd think."

Rumia grinned. "So we play the pirates and commandeer ourselves a ship? I like it!"

"What? No, wait!" Kaguya shouted. "Are you out of your minds? We can't just…Did you just say pirates?"

"It's pretty much what it is, ain't it?" Rumia said. "Invade a ship and steal it."

"Huh." Kaguya pondered that for a moment longer. As much as she hated to admit it, Mokou did have a point. If this was a dream world (as the evidence vehemently supported), then all those people were no more than extremely convincing illusions. They had no real sentience to speak of. And as Rumia had just pointed out, what Mokou had suggested was, for all intents and purposes, piracy.

Kaguya felt a _very _silly grin split her features. She couldn't help it; it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.

"Well then," she said. "Yo-ho-ho."

…

At a glance, the _Kobayashi Maru _was nothing out the ordinary. Just a simple trade vessel: small, built for speed and in possession of a small crew. There were dozens more like it.

However, if someone were to examine it closely they would notice several things that just didn't seem quite right. While the crew certainly performed their duties with rigorous enthusiasm, all of their running around and climbing on things didn't seem to serve any actual nautical purpose. Furthermore, the ship itself seemed to be in possession of more than its fair share of ropes and sails, and the body was oddly shaped. It was as if the whole setup had been designed by someone who had seen such ships on several occasions but had never taken the time to examine them closely.

Still, the crew diligently went about their business, and the ship itself seemed to sail well enough, so in the end a few odd traits didn't seem to matter. Of course, that all changed when a dark-haired girl in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt flew out of the sky to land right in the middle of the deck.

Kaguya cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "All right fake people, listen up! We're taking control of this ship, and to be quite frank we don't want you with it! So all of you clear out now, and we won't have to get violent!" As an afterthought she added, "Arrrr."

No one did as she said. No one even glanced at her. They all continued about their business, stepping around her if she was in the way.

Kaguya scowled. "Oh, come on! This again? What do I have to do to get your attention, flash you? Because that isn't going to happen."

A second girl touched down on the deck opposite of her. "I told you, you don't exist to them anymore," Mokou said. "Neither of us do."

"Try burning off their faces," Kaguya suggested.

"When did you get so bloodthirsty?" Mokou muttered. But she reached over to grab a passing sailor by the collar. He tried to shrug her off and go about his way, but got a face full of Mokou's burning hand for his troubles.

Kaguya and Mokou watched as his flesh melted away like wax. He sank to his knees, his body jerking and convulsing. "Huh," Kaguya said. "Almost like a robot."

"What's a robot?" Mokou asked.

"Something that acts like that if you break it." Kaguya looked around. None of the other sailors seemed to care, or even notice that their companion was being murdered right in front of their eyes.

"This is getting boring," Kaguya grumbled.

Mokou kicked her flaming victim over the side and sent him tumbling to the waters. "Makes our job easier though. No fighting back."

"Like I said. Boring."

"I'm with Kaguya," Rumia said. The self-proclaimed skeleton key hoisted herself up over the boat's side and landed next to the other two girls. "It's no fun if they don't fight back."

"And what would an overglorified locksmith know about that?" Mokou sneered.

"Hey, it's a risky business," Rumia said. "Sometimes you get caught, and when you do, things can become very…Wait, what are they doing?"

Almost as if on cue, every single one of the apathetic sailors stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at Rumia with hostile eyes. They didn't say anything, they didn't make any overtly threatening movements, they just stared. Kaguya found it to be surprisingly chilling.

"Uh," Rumia said as she looked from one face to the next. "Wow. Something tells me that they don't like me."

Mokou reached up to scratch her head. "Yeah, no kidding. Is there something you want to tell us?"

"Hey, I don't know what this is about. Maybe they just really hate swords."

The crew of the _Kobayashi Maru _drew their weapons. Sun flashed off of steel as several swords, knives, and other wicked looking instruments of death were bared.

"Okay, never mind," Rumia said. "Looks like they're just fine with swords."

"Maybe it's because you don't belong here," Kaguya suggested. "Rin Satsuki sent us here, but you forced your way in, right?"

"That could be it." Rumia started to grin.

"Glad we got that settled," Mokou said. She raised her arms over her head and stretched. "So, now that's out of the way, any suggestions-"

With a whoop of absolute glee, Rumia tore past them and threw herself at the nearest crewman. He reacted instantly, bringing up his sword to block her attack. It ended up being a pointless motion, as Rumia's blade slashed through his like a knife through butter and nearly cut him in two. Laughing, Rumia yanked her sword free and decapitated him.

That seemed to set off the rest of the crew. Fueled by a sudden desire to avenge their fallen comrade that had been absent a few short minutes ago, they rushed forward as one to overwhelm her. Rumia met their charge with obvious gusto, diving headlong into the mob and started hacking away merrily.

Mokou raised an eyebrow. "Well, looks like she's feeling better."

"Yeah, no kidding," Kaguya said. "Maybe a little too much better."

"I'm telling you, Kaguya, there's something not right about her, and I don't just mean turning into a bloodthirsty living blender."

"Oh, she's just the token chaotic evil teammate," Kaguya said dismissively. "Every adventuring party has one. The trick is to keep her aimed at the other guys and away from us."

Mokou leaned back against the railing. "And you would be the expert on that, of course."

"Of course. I once ran this campaign where Tewi insisted on playing this blood demon from hell that kept eating the faces off of every NPC we found. Finally I had to-"

Kaguya's explanation of her adventuring credentials was interrupted when she felt something warm dripping down her shoulder. She blinked in surprise and looked down to see the handle of a small throwing-dagger, the blade of which was now completely enveloped by her flesh.

"Huh," she said as she pulled it out. "Weird.

"Where'd that come from?" Mokou asked.

The two of them looked up. Five of Rumia's combatants had broken off from the main brawl and were now approaching the pair, weapons at the ready.

"Well, would you look at that," Mokou said. "They finally noticed us."

"Looks like. Guess they don't like the company we keep."

"I hate riding other people's coattails." Mokou sighed and stood up straight. "Well, we might as well get this over with." She flexed her fingers, ignited her palms.

"You say it like it's a bad thing." Kaguya raised a single fist. Pink and yellow energy swirled around it, ready to be released. "As for me, I'd say it's time for a these punks to be boarded."

"We're already on the boat," Mokou pointed out.

"I…never mind. Let's kill things."

…

About five minutes into the fight, Mokou began to realize a couple interesting facts. Number one, her opponents were not skillful fighters. Certainly they threw themselves into the fray with little heed for their own personal safety, and there was no denying that they went about things with the same enthusiasm that they had put into their pointless imitation of sailormanship, but it was clear that they simply did not know what they were doing. There was no finesse to their movements, no grace, no strategy.

Granted, a lack of technique could be made up for by sheer overwhelming numbers. After all, Mokou had been killed by that very concept only a short while ago. Which led to the second thing she had noticed. Despite the fact that the three of them were dispatching them by the dozen, their numbers were not depleting. Quite the contrary, there seemed to be more of them. Where they had come from, whether from within the ship or simply materializing into existence, was not something Mokou could discern. But she was certain of one thing: it was very annoying.

However, there was one very important different between that incident and the one she currently found herself in: she was now in full possession of her powers. As such, the fight couldn't even be properly described as easy. By this point it was just plain unfair.

Liquid fire spat from her palm, washing over three sweaty crewmen. They ignited instantly, burning like torches until they were reduced to something that only vaguely resembled human beings. But before they even hit the deck, Mokou snatched up one and threw him into a tight gaggle of his friends, knocking them back. Then she quickly ducked to avoid a slashing blade intended to take off her head. She stiffened her fingers and thrust her hand forward right into the sword's owner's stomach, pushing through guts and muscles under she touched the hard column of his spine. This she grabbed and, in one deft movement, snapped in half.

"Too easy," she muttered as she withdrew her arm. Slime coated it up to the elbow. Flames washed over her forearm, burning it clean.

Next to her, Kaguya seemed to be enjoying herself. The Lunarian princess had relieved two of the sailors of their swords and was using them with great zest, ducking and chopping away in delight. "Avast maties!" she shouted as she hacked off one of her enemies' arms. "Arrr, ye be a scurvy lot, ye are!"

"What in the world is she saying?"

Mokou briefly glanced to her other side. Rumia had appeared, holding onto one of the sailors from behind and using him as a puppet to fight off his fellows.

"I have no idea," Mokou answered. She quickly ducked another thrust and seized the offending arm, giving it a quick twist. There was a crunching sound and its owner staggered back. "It's probably something out of that shit she reads."

Rumia braced her arms on the rail along the ship's side and slammed her feet into her meatshield's back, throwing him right into the mob and knocking a good number of them back. "What, does she read stuff by dyslexic four-year-olds?"

"Bad form, ye filthy dogs!" Kaguya cried. Rainbow energy poured from her fingertips to annihilate at least twelve men. "Davy Jones has a place picked out fer ye in his locker, arrr!"

Mokou rolled her eyes. "Believe me, that would not…" A pair of meaty fists swung at her face. She reflexively bent her spine backwards until her upper body was almost horizontal to the ground, causing the sailor's arms to pass right over her.

Her eyes flitted to that of the sailor's. Despite the fact that he was not much more than an illusionary construct created to irritated her, Mokou could have sworn she saw the briefest twinge of dawning fear in the dream's eyes as he realized what was about to happen. Appropriate, as Mokou slammed her palms against the ship's deck and, using her them as a brace, swung her legs up so the heel of each foot rested on the sailor's cheeks. She gave his head a sudden twist, and his body slumped to the ground.

Mokou flipped up to her feet with a grunt. "…surprise me one bit," she finished.

"Yer mothers were all hamsters, and yer fathers smelled of boysenberries!" Kaguya cried. "No, wait, was it raspberries? I can never remember."

Mokou sighed. "Okay, this is getting stupid. Time to end this." She thrust her arm forward, sending out a gout of flame that incinerated anyone unlucky enough to be standing directly in front of her.

"Careful, you'll burn down the whole boat!" Rumia shouted.

Mokou ignored her. She leapt through the breach she had created and started running toward the stern. Several of the sailors pushed their way through their burning comrades to intercept her. These were dealt with in a similar manner.

The door to what had to be the captain's quarters was near. Mokou leapt into the air and met it with both feet and smashed right through. She landed in a crouch and warily looked around.

The way she saw it, having the crew of the _Kobayashi Maru _constantly regenerate as fast as they could dispatch them was a problem. It didn't matter if they were easy to kill, sooner or later the three girls would be overrun. And seeing how Mokou and Kaguya and presumably Rumia (if she was indeed a full youkai) could also come back from the dead, then the brawl would be never-ending.

Therefore, Mokou intended to end it by cutting off the opposition's head. Kill the captain, and there was the chance that he would take the crew with him. Of course, there was still the possibility that he could resurrect as well, meaning that Mokou and company would have to find a different ship with friendlier sailors, but it was worth a shot.

There was something odd about the captain's quarters though. Mokou had not been on many ships in her long, long lifetime, but she did read a fair bit. And she was reasonably sure that the captain's quarters of merchant vessels were not supposed to look the way the room she was in now did. Rather than the plain hard wood of the ship's frame, the walls of the room were made from soft and expensive looking red panels. In the center of the room was a white futon, neatly made. On the walls hung several tapestries depicting great battles from Japanese legends. At one end stood a full suit of ceremonial armor, with a curving sword sitting on a wood stand in front of it. All in all, it looked more like the bedroom of a family member of a great house than the quarters of a hardworking sea man.

Mokou found herself staring in wonder. Not just because of the strangeness of the room, but because of how familiar it looked. She wasn't sure where it was from, but something about it was jogging a very old memory.

She glanced over her shoulder. Outside, the battle continued to rage, with Rumia and Kaguya making short work of the ship's crew. Kaguya was still yelling those ridiculous phrases of hers, but at least she was keeping the sailors busy.

Mokou stood to her feet and cautiously walked over toward the suit of armor. She stopped in front of the sword's display stand and knelt down. Out of all the things in the room, this seemed the most familiar. She moved her hand over the curving blade and leather-bound handle, her fingers lightly brushing the oiled steel. Then, almost on impulse, she seized the handle and picked it up.

As soon as the blade was in her hands, Mokou suddenly began to remember. Not only did she know this sword, she _owned _this sword. The armor itself had been lost for centuries, but the sword sat enshrined in her home back in Gensokyo. Of course by now the actual sword was unusable, as the blade had been snapped in half a long time ago and the handle partially rotted away. It now only served as an antique, but a very important antique at that. After all, it had already been in her family for generations, passed down from father to son.

This sword though, the one Mokou now held in her hands…there was no denying that it was the same blade. But the blade, while still nicked and pocked from use, was whole and sharp, as was the handle. She hefted it in her hand and gave it an experimental swung. The tip whistled as it cleanly cut through the air.

A voice spoke. "So, it is not enough that you dishonor our family's name, but you must pillage its treasures as well?"

Mokou spun on her heel sword at the ready. Standing before her was a young man. He was tall and handsome, with oiled dark hair tied back in a topknot and a simple grey silk tunic over the lean muscles of his body. His dark eyes were strong and proud, and they regarded Mokou with utter contempt.

Mokou recognized him instantly. Though it had been over a thousand years since she had seen him last, she had not allowed herself to forget his face.

"Umakai," she said, her voice tinged with disbelief.

"Who else did you expect?" her brother demanded. "Or were you hoping to find Father so you could piss all over him?"

Mokou shook her head. The room felt like it was starting to spin. Or was that just her head? "No," she said. "This isn't real. You're not real."

Umakai gave an angry roll of his eyes. "Of course I'm not. I suppose to you, all of us mere mortals don't exist."

"No. That's not…I mean, you _can't _be here. You're dead. You were killed centuries ago. That pirate attack…"

Bile suddenly rose in her throat as realization hit her. Mokou ran to the door and stared at the carnage outside. "Pirate attack…" she whispered. "Did we just…?" She turned around to see her long dead brother shaking with fury.

"Yes," he growled. "It seems to be that way. You've already taken our family's honor, now you intend to end its line by killing the heir. What's next, Mokou? Binding our souls and preventing us from entering the other life? Razing our home as you did Kamakura?"

Mokou turned around to point. "But Kamakura's right-"

The words caught in her throat. The town of Kamakura, alive and bustling only a few short minutes ago, had been set ablaze. Fire consumed everything that could burn as its inhabitants ran screaming through the streets. The smoke billowed upward, thick enough to blot out the sun.

Mokou swayed on her feet. She started to feel sick. Had she done that? No, she couldn't have. She had been here the whole time. Maybe one of her fireballs had flown wild and struck…But no, that made no sense whatsoever. Even if she had hit one of the buildings by accident, there was no way the whole place could have gone up in flames so quickly. But who else could have done it?

She felt her brother's presence as her drew close. "You see?" Umakai said, his lips almost brushing her ear. "You see what you've done? Everything you touch gets destroyed. You're a cancer, Mokou. A disease, rotting away at our family."

Mokou shuddered. She nodded once.

"And what does one do with cancers?" Umakai asked.

"Cut them out," Mokou muttered. She felt so strange.

"And are you a cancer?"

Mokou tried to fight the answer that rose up within her, but she might as well have been trying to stop the sun from rising. "Yes," she gasped out.

"So what are you going to do about that?"

That answer was clear enough. Mokou looked down at the sword still clutched in her hand, shining with a sharpness that was almost visible. She held it up and grasped the handle with both hands. She placed the tip of the blade against her left breast.

"Good," Umakai murmured. He reached around her to place his hands over hers. "Now, plunge it-"

Then he screamed, a high piercing sound that sounded absolutely inhumane. It was enough to shock Mokou out of her stupor. She shoved him off and leapt away.

Umakai felt to his knees, his mouth still stretched open and shrieking. Two curving blades protruded from his chest, and blood poured down to stain his tunic.

Behind him, Kaguya placed her foot against his back and pushed him off her swords. "Gods, that guy was creepy," she muttered.

Mokou stared in shock.

Kaguya looked up at her. Her face was filled with annoyance. "Hey moron, word of advice: don't listen to these people. Because before you know it they'll get into your mind with their deep seductive voices and you'll be committing hara-kiri. They know how to mess with your head. So don't be an idiot, okay? That sort of thing can really screw up the rest of the party."

"I…" Mokou shook her head. Everything was spinning around and around. It was all she could do to remain upright.

When she opened her eyes again, Umakai's room was gone, replaced by a plain room with a desk of papers, several chests. and a hammock strung up near the far wall. Where the body of her brother had fallen was the corpse of a man she had never seen before, with greasy hair and a thick beard. A blue silk hat inlaid with gold thread, likely taken from some nobleman, lay on the deck next to his head.

Kaguya grinned. "Hey, cool." She snatched the hat off of the ground and put it on her head. Then she walked around Mokou to head back outside.

Mokou blinked at her. "You're…just going to take his hat? Just like that?"

"Why not? It's not like he's going to complain. Besides, you heard what Rumia said. These people aren't real. And given how they've spent the whole damned fight acting like a bunch of robot zombies, I'm inclined to…Where'd everybody go?"

Mokou looked out to the deck. Save for Rumia, who was looking around with a very disappointed look on her face, it was empty. All of the crew, both living and dead, had vanished completely.

That wasn't all. The flames that had been consuming Kamakura were gone as well, leaving the skies clear and blue. However, it seemed that they had taken the town with them, along with what land had been left. The swiftly disappearing island, the town and its people, all of the other ships, all gone. There was nothing on the sea other than the _Kobayashi Maru _and its three passengers.

She glanced back inside. The body of the man who had masqueraded as Umakai had disappeared too, though Kaguya's new hat remained. She looked down at her hands. Her family's sword also remained, as did the pair of blades that Kaguya had claimed for herself.

"Hey!" Rumia shouted as she jogged toward them. "What the hell did you do? It was just starting to get fun!"

Mokou didn't have an answer, nor could she have spoken it if she did. Instead, she pushed her way past Rumia and Kaguya and ran over to the side of the ship. Then she threw her upper body over the railing and threw up.

…

All things considered, the invasion could have gone a lot worse. In fact, Mokou's unsurprising display of weak-mindedness aside, it had gone damned near perfectly. Certainly, the whole bit of the mobs constantly respawning was a surprise, but it hadn't been anything Kaguya was unable to handle. In such cases, the solution was always clear: find the leader and kill them. Works every time. Though it was a bit annoying that Mokou had apparently thought of it first, even if she had fallen to his manipulations quicker than you could say "The Force is weak with this one."

Still, things had worked out all right in the end. The boss had been easily defeated and the party had taken no losses. And they had gotten some mad loot out of the deal.

Kaguya grinned as she gripped the helm. Most of the time you got a few potions, some money, maybe a new set of shoulder-pads and a dagger. It wasn't often you got an entire boat out the deal. And for such an easy fight as well! She couldn't wait to see what the full dungeons had in store for them.

At the moment, they were sailing forward, riding the wind currents. They didn't have a specific destination in mind, but it didn't matter. According to Rumia, the heart of the world would draw them to it. Sooner or later, they'd find something.

In the meantime, Kaguya had appointed herself captain. It was only fitting. She had killed the boss, she had taken his hat, so it was her ship. If the others wanted to complain about fair distribution of loot, then they should have contributed more.

Though to be honest, she really didn't know much about actually commanding a ship. But seeing how those sailors didn't seem to know what they were doing either, she supposed that it didn't really matter. After all, this was a dream, lifelike as it may appear. All she had to do was act like she knew what she was doing and the rest would fall into place.

"Yo ho, yo ho," she sang and she gave the wheel a slight nudge. She breathed in deeply, taking in the fresh, salty breeze. Illusion or not, it was amazingly convincing. "It's a pirate's life for me."

Kaguya heard footsteps. She glanced down to see Mokou marching up the steps towards her.

"Oh, hey," Kaguya said. "It's the useless one herself."

Mokou shot her a glare that would normally be followed up by a murder attempt, but this time she just said, "You kept the hat, I see."

With a grin, Kaguya reached up to flick the brim. "Of course I did. I kill it, I keep it. Captain on deck."

"I hope you don't expect me to follow orders."

"I don't expect _you _to do anything except be incredibly annoying most of the time, only to interrupt it with unbelievable displays of stupidity. Whether or not you want to do the smart thing for once is entirely up to you."

Mokou smiled without humor. "You just aren't going to let me forget about that, are you?"

"I had to save your useless ass from a boss who took control of your mind without so much as a fight. No, I'm not going to let you forget that."

Mokou shrugged. "You may have a point. He did get into my mind pretty quickly. But…"

Mokou leaned in uncomfortably close, bringing her face mere inches away from Kaguya's. Kaguya grimaced and pulled back.

"Don't forget, we still have your little world to crawl through," Mokou murmured. "And you have more than your fair share of skeletons in the closet. Just wait until they get up and start dancing for you."

She patted Kaguya on the back, causing the Lunarian to involuntarily cringe, and headed back down the stairs to disappear into the ship's hold.

Kaguya growled. Stupid little tart. If it weren't for the fact that they needed Mokou's help, she would be perfectly happy to toss her right overboard and be done with it.

Rumia climbed out of the hold, her sword strapped to her side. A half-eaten plum was in her hand. She wandered up to the helm.

"Hey," she said. "I just passed Mokou. She looked pissed about something."

Kaguya shook her head. "Get used to it. She's going to be pissed this whole trip. And where did you find that?"

"This?" Rumia grimaced and tossed the piece of fruit overboard. "Down below. There's a whole bunch of random food. Tastes disgusting though, like someone soaked it in alcohol and covered it with salt or something."

"Eh, dream food never tastes right for me either. So tell me something, Rumia: when exactly are you planning to betray us?"

Kaguya doubted she could have gotten a better reaction if she had walked up to the youkai and jammed a letter-opener up her nose. "W-what?" Rumia gaped. "Where the hell…Who says I'm gonna…"

Kaguya kept her eyes on the sea before them as she talked. "Well, you're a lockbreaker for hire with dubious morals and a preference of speed over strength. That makes you the Rogue of the group, and they're not exactly known for their loyalty. You are also in possession of a surprising amount of bloodlust, even for a youkai. You also strike me as the sort of the person who's more than willing to stir up trouble for your own amusement." She shrugged. "Hey, no offense, but all signs point to you selling us out and stabbing us in the back once we've fulfilled our purpose."

Rumia scowled. "Mokou's right. You read way too much."

A ghost of a smile curled the end of Kaguya's lip. "Perhaps. But don't think that just because I've got my hands full with my murderous rival it doesn't mean I'm not keeping my eye on you."

"Look, I'm not planning to turn on you guys, okay? I want to get out of here as much as you do. Stabbing you in the back would be kinda counter to those desires, wouldn't you think?"

"Mmmm-hmmm. If you say so. Just remember to stick to that, and we should get along fine."

Rumia shook her head. "Yeah, this is going to go really well," she muttered. Then her frown deepened. She leaned in closer.

Kaguya leaned back. "What the hell do you want?"

"Why'd you cut off your hair for?"

"My…what?" Kaguya's hand instinctively went to her hair. "What are you talking about? I didn't-"

Then she froze. Her hair, which once flowed down past her knees, now ended only a few short inches from her scalp.

Kaguya slowly pulled her hand away from her head and stared at her fingers. They were coated in a thin layer of black soot. She whirled around. There, on the deck, was a small pile of ash.

Kaguya's jaw dropped. "What in the world-" Then realization struck her. "No. No, she couldn't have. There's no way I couldn't have noticed. How…"

Then she began to growl. Her fingers curled into claws. "Mokou!" she screamed as she vaulted onto the main deck. "Get your ass up here! Mokou!"

…

_Oh my freaking God, that stupid conversation on the beach would not end! Seriously, I kept trying to move on the next scene, but then I'd realize "Wait, they haven't covered such-and-such yet". And so it just kept getting longer and longer. That's part of the reason I ended it on the girls going all piratey, to give me a break from all the talking._

_Speaking of which, it's, uh, a pretty good thing those sailors weren't any more real than the people we blow away in our video games, right? Otherwise, Kaguya and Mokou would be guilty of mass murder, and that scene would be really uncomfortable. So…good thing, huh? Right? It's all good, right? *nervous laugh* So…yeah._

_Anyway, if anyone's worried that Ex-Rumia's presence means she's going to end up hijacking the plot (and I'll admit: she has a bad habit of doing that), don't worry. She's just there to give Kaguya and Mokou something to do and keep them from wandering aimlessly. Those two are still going to be the main focus of the story._

_Oh! And before I forget, there is a frustrating lack of information on the state of ships during feudal Japan during my Google searching, forcing me to make the descriptions rather vague. The closest thing I found were junks, and those are more Chinese in origin. So if anyone's got any information they could send me so I can retroactively fix the story, I'd really appreciate it._

_Until next time, everyone!_


	4. Voyage of the Kobayashi Maru

Voyage of the Kobayashi Maru

_If this was it, then she couldn't help but feel disappointed._

_She stared at the beaker sitting on the table before her. It was filled near to the brim with a grey liquid thick enough that one would be forgiven for thinking it to be mud. And it smelled horrendous, much like the wet fur of an animal that had rolled in the corpses of other animals, also with wet fur. She wrinkled her nose and kept her distance._

"_This is it?" she asked. It was impossible to keep disappointment out of her voice._

_Her teacher, who had just set the beaker down, nodded. "Don't sound so let down. It may not look like much, but this is exactly what we wanted." Her teacher's pale lips lifted in a tired but satisfied smile. "At last."_

_The girl knew that she should be excited. If this was the elixir, then it was the elixir. Her teacher was never wrong. And in any case, this meant the realization of everything they've toiled endlessly for the last twenty cycles for. Finally the key to immorality, _true _immortality, not just the extreme longevity of their people, was in their possession. And with that came the immortality of the other kind, gouging out a piece of history and making it their own. She'd like to see any of her favored siblings, those who were handed everything for the simple reason of having being born first, try to match anything like this. With this elixir she was going to ascend above any of her family, any of her ancestors, and become something far beyond the limited imaginations of those who had ignored her. She was going to become a goddess._

_And yet…_

_The girl shook her head. "I don't know. I thought it would be more…"_

"_Yes?"_

"_Glowy."_

_Her teacher raised a single silver eyebrow. "Glowy?"_

"_Well, sure. Legendary magical objects are supposed to glow." She looked down at the assuming beaker and the sludge within. "And if this isn't going to become legendary one day, then the qualifications are severely flawed."_

"_You read too many fantasy stories," her teacher said, shaking her head._

_The girl folded her arms. "So says the lady who just created the elixir of immortality."_

"_Point taken," her teacher said with a wry curl of her lips. "But even if its appearance is unimpressive, what it does is certainly…legend-worthy." She pushed the beaker closer to girl. "Care to find out?"_

_The girl blinked. "What, you mean now? Right here, right now?"_

"_Can you conjure any compelling reason why not?"_

"_I…uh…" The girl wracked her brain. "I don't know. I just seems to be the sort of thing that calls for some kind of…ceremony. Ritual. Trumpets, worshipful masses, a grand cathedral, dancing girls, that sort of thing."_

"_Seeing how what we're doing is highly illegal, I would advise against any of those things," her teacher said dryly. "We can throw you a week-long party after you've claimed the throne."_

_The girl shrugged. "Fair enough." She picked up the beaker. "Three sips, you said?"_

_Her teacher nodded. "Each one will push your body closer to true everlasting life, with the third completing the transformation. Make them small ones though. The actual dosage of each sip matters not, so it's best to save it."_

"_And you're sure this thing is safe? It won't poison me or cause me to vomit out my liver or anything?"_

"_Yes. Completely. Worst-case scenario, it does absolutely nothing and we have to figure out what went wrong and start over. But that won't happen. It's perfect the way it is."_

"_And you're so sure of this…why?"_

"_Because I say it is." There was no missing the impatience in her teacher's voice._

"_Eh, fair enough." The girl grinned. "Okay then, bottom's up."_

_She took one sip and let it drip down her throat. It didn't taste nearly as bad as she had thought, though it was far from delicious. Sort of like toothpaste, she reflected. Toothpaste mixed with beans._

"_Congratulations," her teacher said. "You are now forever young."_

_The girl blinked. "Are you sure? I didn't feel anything."_

"_Believe me, you are. Now, claim everlasting health."_

"_Okay…" The girl shrugged and took a second sip. To her surprise, the taste had changed. Now it was more like cheese covered with way too much pepper. She coughed and said, "One more?"_

"_One more."_

_This time she nearly spat the stuff out. It was _hideous, _with a flavor like burning bile mixed with thick mucus and a shot of urine thrown in for good measure. She locked her jaw, forced it down and tried not to gag._

_Suddenly her teacher grabbed her by the wrist. A thin blade, short but razor sharp, appeared in her other hand. The girl yelled in surprise and tried to pull away, but her teacher quickly slashed the blade across the girl's palm._

"_What are you doing?" the girl demanded as she yanked her hand back. "Have you completely divorced yourself from your-"_

"_Look!"_

_The girl looked down at her slashed palm. The blood was flowing back into the open vein. When it was all gone, the wound shrank, turned pink, and disappeared completely._

_Her teacher nodded in satisfaction. "It is done," she whispered. "You will no longer age. You will no longer take ill. And any harm will be but temporary, up to and including complete disintegration."_

_The girl, who was still staring and her healed palm, said, "So that's it? I'm going to live forever now?"_

"_Forever and ever."_

"_Huh." The girl mused over this. Then she shook her head and said, "Well, that's great. But if that was all there was, if that was it, then I can't help…"_

…but feel a little disappointed.

A measureless amount of time had passed since Kamakura had disappeared and Kaguya and her…unwanted companions had sailed off upon the ship they had claimed. Or to be strictly accurate, the ship _she _had claimed. Real or not, it was her boat now. If the other two wished to dispute this, than they would have to kill her to take ownership. However, to her partial disappointment, neither of them seemed to care.

At any rate, in the time since, things had been remarkably uneventful. The sun had refused to set, the wind had pushed them along at a constant but gentle pace, and Mokou had never ceased to be the most annoying thing to wear a pair of suspenders. If it weren't for the truce, Kaguya would have amputated her limbs and keelhauled her after the hair incident. As it was, she had to settle for leaving her in the cargo hold with a mess that could only be vaguely called a "face."

However, after that brief moment of amusement, Kaguya had come to realize something horrible. While playing the pirate with an actual ship sounded great on paper, it became pointless without someone to actually commit acts of piracy _against. _And they had found no one. No more islands, no other ships, not even any albatrosses to shoot. One would think that a dream world would be filled with interesting thinks to look at and destroy. But instead they had encountered nothing but endless water and constant sunshine. All very well and pretty, but it had gotten old very quickly.

And then they had found something.

Kaguya sighed. At the moment she was leaning slumped against the ship's side, staring balefully at the large, jagged lump of rock that sat only a few feet from starboard. They had run across this lame excuse for an island about half an hour ago, a stony spit of land apparently devoid of life. All things considered, nothing of interest to aspiring pirates, but since it had been the first thing not composed of one oxygen and two hydrogen molecules that they had seen for a long time, they were practically obligated to check it out. Besides, this being a dream world, there was no telling what they might find.

Unfortunately, after they had sailed around the thing to find a usable port to lay anchor, namely a sandy beach framed by jutting cliffs, they had run into a problem. It was obvious that leaving the _Kobayashi Maru _undefended would be a bad idea, as they ran the risk of having it vanish as soon as their backs were turned. However, that left them with the problem of who would go onto the island. None of the three girls trusted the other to be alone with the boat, and none of them were comfortable with having any of the others watch their backs. Finally they had decided that since it was Mokou's subconscious that they were trying to escape from, she would have to be part of the exploration party. And since Kaguya did not trust Rumia with her ship, the sword-wielding lockpicker would accompany her, but only after securing grudging promises from Mokou that the truce would extend to Rumia, and making sure that Rumia would postpone her inevitable betrayal to a much later date.

However, after the two of them had left, Kaguya had come to the realization that despite finally finding land, she was still stuck on the boat with nothing to do. She stared at the cliffs and, after they failed to transform into something more interesting, she sighed and walked back to the helm.

"We pillage an' plunder, we rifle and loot," she sang softly. "Drink up me hearties yo ho. Yo ho, yo ho, it's a pirate's life for…" She collapsed over the helm with a groan. "Oh _gods, _I'm so bored!"

With a grimace, she pushed herself back up. _Note to self, _she thought ruefully. _Next time you're given a choice between the boat that you can't keep and maybe having some fun beyond tormenting Mokou, choose the fun._

Well, maybe with any luck those two will end up discovering the center of Mokou's subconscious mind (whatever that ended up to be) and they could move on to Kaguya's mind. Not that she was in any great hurry to let Mokou in there, but with any luck it would be a short trip.

With any luck. Kaguya snorted back a laugh and went back to staring at the cliffs. These things never had that sort of luck. Odds were they were going to be stuck here for a very long time. She just hoped that something would hurry up and happen, or she might consider tearing her way into Satsuki's mind through sheer brute force.

…

Mokou half-walked, half-slid down a steep path that curled around the side of a sheer wall. She kept her hand on the wall, using it to steady herself. It was a difficult task, as the ground beneath her feet was mainly composed of loose dirt and gravel. More than once she almost completely lost her footing, which would likely result in her being a raw and bloody mess at the bottom of the path.

"I really don't like this place," she muttered as she clawed around for handholds. She kept her eyes focused on her feet, making sure they didn't betray her.

"So you've said," Rumia commented on. The lockpicker was a few feet further down. Mokou had not been keen on the idea of her being behind her, especially with that sword of hers. Mokou had brought along her own blade, which was now thrust through a makeshift belt. Just in case. "Several times. You really are one for repetition, aren't you?"

"Oh, am I starting to annoy you?" Mokou shot back. "So sorry. No, wait. No I'm not."

"Glad we've got that cleared up. One question though."

Mokou had reached a smooth section of wall without reliable handholds. She squatted down on her heels and slowly scooted herself down. "Make it a good one," she grumbled.

"You got it. Why the hell are you doing it that way in the first place?"

Mokou glanced up. Rumia was hovering about a foot over the path, her legs folding in the cross-legged position.

"Oh." Mokou tried to think of a response that would make her seem less stupid. None presented itself. With a sigh she allowed herself to float a short distanced upward. "Shut up."

Snickering, Rumia drifted down the path, with an even more irritable Mokou following behind. She hated this place. They had found absolutely nothing of worthwhile wandering among the rocks and now she had gotten her palms scraped up for no reason whatsoever. Granted, the scrapes had disappeared within seconds, but it still had made her look like a fool. She hated to admit it, but she was actually starting to miss Kaguya's stupid ship.

They reached the bottom of the path and found themselves in an open, desolate space. In keeping with the rest of the expedition, there was no life to be found. Just rocks, rocks and…

Mokou frowned. "Hey," she said to Rumia, who was carving her initials in a jagged spire. "Look at that."

Rumia looked in the direction she was indicating and whistled. "Wow. That was certainly worth coming to see."

At the far end of the expanse were several clusters of huge blue crystals, just sitting out in the open. They were covered with a pale fluorescence and a faint humming noise could be heard emitting from the gems.

"Worth it?" Mokou said. "Not a chance in hell. These things ain't real, remember? It's not like we can take them with us." Then she had to admit, "Still, they are kind of pretty."

"Do they mean anything to you? Any old memories being shaken loose?"

Mokou shook her head. "No, never seen these things in my life. Probably just some weird dream randomness. Come on, let's go see if they do anything."

She started to float toward the clusters, only to have Rumia suddenly grab her by the arm.

Mokou reacted immediately. Her other hand burst into flames and snatched up Rumia by the wrist. Rumia cried out in pain and tried to pull away, but Mokou had already seized her by the face and driven the back of her head against a boulder.

Growling, Mokou focused the fire surrounded her hand to the tip of her index finger, making it burn like a blowtorch. She held the blazing tip six inches from Rumia's wide eyes.

"And what was that?" Mokou hissed. "I knew you weren't to be trusted, but-"

Moving so fast that even the unnervingly quick Mokou was surprised, Rumia drew up her legs and slammed them against Mokou's chest, sending her tumbling backward. Mokou rolled on her shoulders, braced her hands against the ground and rolled into a crouch, hands up and ready.

But Rumia didn't press her attack. Instead, she started yelling. "What the _fuck _is wrong with you, you crazy bitch?" she shouted. "I was just trying to stop you from flying into the gas!"

"What?" Mokou stared at her, completely befuddled. "Gas?"

Rumia pointed with her unharmed hand. "Yes! Gas!"

Mokou looked over her shoulder. There, about fifteen away, were three craters, from which suspicious green clouds were rising. Probably poisonous. Or flammable. Either way, it wouldn't be a good idea to fly through them.

"Have you always been this stupid paranoid, or is it just for my sake?" Rumia snapped. She held up her scorched wrist. "I don't heal as fast as you do!"

"Sorry, sorry," Mokou muttered.

"Sorry isn't going to fix these burns!"

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? It's reflexive."

Rumia glowered. "You know, I'm seeing why Kaguya doesn't like you. She's right, you are completely insane."

Mokou's face hardened. "Shut up. Right now."

"Oh, looks like I hit a sore spot. Fine. Just watch where you're pointing those fireballs."

Mokou didn't bother answering. She just stood up and stormed off toward the crystals. She now hated this place even more, if such a thing could be possible. And she also wanted to burn the skin off of Rumia's face. She wondered if doing would do lasting damage to Rumia's mind. She then wondered if she cared.

She couldn't make up her mind, and turning her only backup into a pile of ash would probably be a bad idea. So she decided to hold that thought until they had gotten off this piece of blasted wasteland.

The humming grew louder the closer they got to the crystals. Mokou walked up to the nearest cluster and reached out to touch the side of one exceptionally large prism.

"Oh, that's a fantastic idea," Rumia grumbled as she caught up. "Just go ahead and touch the glowing dream crystal that we know nothing about. I hope it electrocutes you."

"Nothing's happening," Mokou said. She ran her palm over the surface. Below the thin layer of dust, it was smooth, cool and hard. Exactly like any other crystal. "Looks like they're just oversized decorations."

"It's not? That's disappointing. Fine, let's forget these giant pieces of jewelry and get moving."

"I don't recall you being put in charge," Mokou said. But she removed her hand and walked away from the clusters. Then she stopped.

"Wait, no. You first," she said to Rumia.

Rumia rolled her eyes. "Shit, you really are stupid paranoid! Do you still think that I'm going to attack the person I need to get out of this mess?"

"I think that I still don't trust anything you say, and even if you are telling the truth you still might take advantage of my healing to get in a little payback. Move."

Had the look Rumia shot her been weaponized, it would have burned right through Rumia's brain. But she complied, walking in the direction Mokou indicated and complaining under her breath the whole way. After what she judged to be a safe amount of time Mokou followed.

They found another path that ran between two hills and took it, floating just high enough to make the journey easy but not so high that any hypothetical hostiles would see them.

"You know, I'm starting to think we're wasting our time," Rumia called over her shoulder. "There's nothing here. This is probably just the place where your intelligence went to die."

Mokou ignored that last observation. "Then let's go back. If there's nothing here, there's nothing here." She dropped to the ground and folded her arms. "We're not doing any good by-" A spike shot up from the ground, driving itself right through her foot. "Ow."

Rumia stopped. She turned around. "Ow? What is this 'Ow' that is not doing any good, and how are we doing it?"

"No, something in the ground just stabbed me. Ow, there it goes again."

"Jeez Mokou, can you go for five minutes without pissing something off? When the freaking _ground_ wants to stab you, it kinda indicates that you've got a problem."

"Ow. Shut up, let me see what's going on. And ow."

Mokou ascended a few feet into the air and examined the ground. Both of her feet now had a matching pair of perfectly circular holes, though they were already in the process of closing up. The spike had come from some kind of dull purple slimy substance that was covering the ground. It was squirming slightly, almost as if it were alive.

Rumia noticed it then. "Wow, that's disgusting. Did some kind of slime god just shit all over the place?"

Mokou gingerly touched her left foot to the substance. Another spike immediately sprung up, severing it in half. She quickly pulled what was left away. The spike sunk back into the murk.

"Yeah, this stuff doesn't like to be touched," Mokou said. "But it does like to mutilate me, just like everything we've met." As an afterthought, she added, "I hate this place."

Rumia floated over to where the path opened into the space beyond. She peeked out. "Well, shit. That's no good. Mokou, come here and take a look at this."

Mokou did so. As soon as she saw what Rumia was looking at, she was forced to agree with her assessment of the situation.

What lay beyond was a wide open valley, bordered all around by stone walls. It looked like a massive crater, carved out from a falling asteroid long since decayed away. At one far end were more of those giant crystals. The creeping stuff covered the entire crater floor, making Rumia's gibe about defecating deities seem disturbingly possible. However, that wasn't what Rumia was talking about.

Some kind of colony had been set up in the crater, a colony of structures that could only be barely called buildings, as they looked like they had been grown rather than built. They appeared to be organic in nature, though instead of the graceful and leafy foliage that the word often brought to mind, these looked like they were formed from some vile creature's internal organs.

But they were nothing compared to the inhabitants themselves. There were creatures crawling around that Mokou had never imagined could have existed. There seemed to be no real continuity among them, except that they seemed to combine all the worst traits of reptiles and the entire invertebrate spectrum. There were little running things that looked like hairless dogs with bladed antennae and too many teeth. There were creeping things cutting away large chunks of the crystals that looked like giant scorpions with batlike membranes stretching from their claws to the tip of their tails. There were large slithering things that looked like someone had stuck a pair of bladed praying mantis arms and a drooling tooth-filled maw at the end of a snake's body. There were flying things that looked like giant crabs. There were other floating things that looked like giant headlice. All in all, it was easily the most disgusting excuse for a community that Mokou had ever seen.

Mokou and Rumia exchanged a look. "Just for the record, this isn't from my head," Mokou said.

"Are you sure? This could very well represent how much your soul has decayed over centuries of abuse."

"Haha. Seriously. This isn't mine."

"Yeah, fine. I've got some suspicions down those lines anyway. So, what say we head back now?"

"Agreed." Then Mokou paused for a moment before saying, "One of them's behind us, isn't it?"

"Pretty sure, yeah."

Both Mokou and Rumia slowly turned around. There, hovering directly over them, was one of the slithering things with the praying mantis arms. It opened its jaws wide and screeched at them. Mokou winced as her face was splattered with sticky saliva and whatever the thing had had for lunch.

Mokou blinked slowly. With a small effort of will, she set her upper body ablaze, burning away the filth. Then she glanced over to Rumia, who was likewise sprayed and looking annoyed about it.

"Just for the record," Mokou said as the thing reared up to attack. "I _really _hate this place."

…

"And now ladies and gentleman," Kaguya shouted to no one at all. "Watch and be amazed as the astonishing, the beautiful, the absolutely wonderful in every way number one princess Kaguya Houraisan dazzles you with yet another display of swordmanship!"

She tossed the banana she held into the air. As it started to fall back to the ship's deck, she whipped out both her swords and neatly slashed it into three segments. These pieces were then cut in half, making six in all. Kaguya then swooped in with the flat of one of one of the blades, catching each piece.

"Tah-dah!" she declared, holding up the dismembered bannana to her imaginary audience. Then she sighed and let it fall to the ground to join the chopped up plums, apples, pears, oranges and other fruit she had been playing with for the last ten minutes.

"Mutilating fruit," she muttered as she booted half an apple across the deck. "This is a new low." She turned to toward the island, which was still infuriatingly doing nothing at all. "Hurry up!" she yelled. "What's taking you guys so long?"

To her surprise, there was an answer. Several in fact, in the form of roars, hisses and snarls. From the sound of it, a great deal of angry _somethings _were coming her way and fast. Kaguya blinked. She jumped into the air and flew up high enough to get a good view. What she saw made her jaw drop.

Rumia and Mokou were flying toward the ship as fast as they could. Rumia was in the lead. Her sword was bared and the blade was covered with a thick, black substance. Mokou's sword was also unsheathed and clutched in her hand. It was just that the hand holding the sword had been sliced right off her wrist and was now in the grasp of her other hand. And in close pursuit were a great deal of hideous monsters. Monsters that Kaguya found to be horribly familiar.

"What did you _do?"_ she screamed at them. "Why are you being chased by the freaking _Zerg?"_

"You know them? Great! Tell them to leave us alone!" Rumia shouted back.

"Like they'd listen!" Kaguya swooped back down. She started to unfurl the sails. "Hurry up and give me a hand!"

Mokou reached the ship. "Forget the damned ship! It's too slow!"

"No! I just spent the most boring forty-something minutes guarding this thing! I'm not just going to leave it now!"

"Have you _completely_ lost your mind?" Mokou screamed. "You wanna be digested? Because that's what's about to happen!"

"I _won't _if you'll stop yelling and help me out here! We still can-"

"No we can't," Rumia said. She pointed. "They've caught us."

She was right. The first of the swarm were starting to arrive. While some of the larger ones stopped at the shore, others did not hesitate to plunge right into the water and swim their way toward the hip. Kaguya managed to set the sails and get the _Kobayashi Maru _in motion, but Rumia had been right. It was moving too slow, and they were already clambering up the sides.

"Oh, no you don't!" Kaguya shouted. She leapt at the nearest pair of Zerglings, slashing with both swords. As she went, she infused a tiny portion of her power into both blades, causing the grey iron to glow white.

This didn't seem to discourage her attackers, as they leapt right at her as soon as they pulled themselves onto the railing. Kaguya ducked and plunged her sword into the belly of the first. It sunk right in, the energy imbued within burning away internal organs as it went. It fell and flopped onto the deck like a fish, hissing and bleeding and dying.

The second was simply decapitated without a second thought.

However, Kaguya wasn't given time to gather her wits. Because at that moment at least a dozen more were leaping onto the deck. As she prepared to meet their charge, Kaguya noted with satisfaction that Rumia and Mokou hadn't abandoned her. Rumia was busy using her sword to chop a group of Zerglings to pieces, while Mokou, who had managed to reattach her wrist, was taking a page out of Kaguya's book and imbuing her own blade with her power, only in her case it was to cover it with fire. Kaguya nodded her approval. Maybe there was hope for her as well.

That was when a massive Hydralisk hauled itself onto the deck directly behind Mokou. Before she could turn to face it, it snarled and slashed out with its bladed forearms. Her body jerked once and then crumpled to the floor. Her head, now emancipated from her neck, bounced its way down the deck to roll to a stop at Kaguya's feet. Mokou's dead face was twisted into an expression of resigned annoyance.

There was something perversely wrong about seeing her like that. While she had seen Mokou dead, beheaded, dissected, disemboweled, dismembered, and any other variations on a messy fatality many, many times, the thought of her rival being so thoroughly murdered by someone other than herself was a surprisingly disturbing thought. Granted, she had not been above hiring others to keep Mokou dead and out of the way for a few days when she wasn't in the mood to deal with her. But this was different. Mokou had been killed and she hadn't anything to do with it.

That just wasn't right.

Kaguya broke contact with Mokou's irritated but lifeless eyes. She focused on the snarling creature that had just beheaded her rival. She charged forward, glowing swords at the ready, and jumped. The Hydralisk swiped at her, intending to kill her as it had Mokou.

Kaguya twisted her body out of the way of its slashing blades and stabbed down with her own. Both swords plunged its hideous face, cutting away most of the flesh and burning away the rest. It squealed in pain as what passed for its brain burned away. Kaguya pulled her swords out and gave it a kick, sending it falling back into the ocean.

However, that was far from the end. More and more of the Zerg were boarding the ship, including three more Hydralisks. And the first of the Guardians was approaching firing range. Despite her anger, Kaguya was starting to grow worried. This wasn't the same as with the sailors. These things were far more dangerous, and Kaguya truly doubted that they would be dispelled by something so simple and killing their leader, assuming there was one around. Perhaps Mokou had been right after all. Perhaps retreat was in order.

And then the problem was quite literally solved right before her.

The wind had picked up. It howled in her ears as it filled the sails, giving the _Kobayashi _Maru a much needed boost of speed. Overhead black storm clouds were forming, filling the sky. Lighting flashed its way across the sky, though curiously enough it made no noise. The Zerg flyers took no notice, preferring to remain focused on their prey. Apparently strange weather patterns meant nothing to them.

But that was when the first of the black cyclones descended. It shot down from the sky and expanded. All nearby Zerg were sucked into its funnel and, to Kaguya's surprised horror, torn to pieces.

Several other tornadoes formed, ripping the Zerg army apart. Kaguya had no idea what was going on. She had no idea what was causing this. She didn't even know if she should be horrified or relieved. All she could do was stand and stare.

This time, the Zerg on the ship reacted. They seemed to forget Kaguya and Rumia immediately and turned to howl at the storm that was now wiping out their comrades. They began to abandon ship en masse, leaping into the ocean to head back toward the shore. Whether they intended to help their companions or perhaps even challenge the storm head-on Kaguya could not discern. At any rate, they were also snatched up and shredded.

And then it was over, just as suddenly as it had begun. The remaining Zerg turned tail and fled, heading back inland. The murderous cyclones, apparently satisfied with the carnage they had wrought, slowed and faded away. Above, the storm clouds were likewise coming apart. Soon the surprise winds had died down and the sun was shining as brightly as it had before.

Kaguya glanced around the ship. The ichor and gore from the Zerg they had slaughtered still coated the deck, but otherwise things had returned to the way they had been. The ship was drifting away from the island at a leisurely pace as the waves beat a calm but steady rhythm on the ship's sides.

Something thudded against the deck behind her. Kaguya turned to see that Rumia had fallen backward on her butt. The self-proclaimed lockpicker's eyes were open wide with shock and her jaw was hanging open. "Wha…what was that?" she gasped. "D-d-did you do that? Kaguya, was that you?"

Kaguya shook her head. "No, not me. I was actually going to ask you the same thing."

"I…I…Where in the world did that _come_ from? I mean, did you _see _that? It just came out of nowhere and swallowed them up! And then…"

Her voice trailed off and she just stared at the wooden planks. Kaguya, whose legs were also feeling a little week, lowered herself into a sitting position.

For several minutes neither of them spoke. The strangeness of what they had just seen was too much to adequately comment on. And then Rumia's head perked up. She pulled herself to her shaky legs and stumbled her way over to Mokou's still deceased body.

"How long is she going to be like this?" she asked. "Shouldn't she have regenerated by now?"

Kaguya stood to her feet. "Decapitation slows it down," she said as she walked over. "It's more than just regrowing some organs or healing burns. She has to grow an entirely new head. That's much more complicated."

"She's going to grow an entirely new head? That's…interesting. What'll happen to the old one?"

"Nothing. That part usually stays dead. I actually have a collection of shrunken Mokou heads back home. Sometimes, if I'm really pissed at her, I'll leave one for her to find, along with an appropriately worded message. Or I'll stuff it full of gunpowder and shove it down her throat."

"And people say _I'm_ messed up," Rumia muttered. "What if we were to put the old head back on? Would that speed things up, since all she'll have to fix is the neck?"

"Sure, but I'd actually prefer it if you didn't. I could use a few Mokou-free minutes, and this truce means I can't make them happen on my own."

"Huh." Rumia looked down at Mokou's remains. She thoughtfully rubbed her chin. "I wonder…"

Kaguya cocked her head. "You wonder what?"

"Well, I was just thinking. You said that your powers got all weird before, right?"

"Only once, and that was probably because I was still getting used to this place."

"Okay, but still, I'm wondering: what if things got weird for her again, and her powers started pulling double-duty?"

Kaguya didn't like what was being suggested. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, you know," Rumia said with a shrug. "What if while her body is growing a head, her head starts growing a new body? Like a starfish, soon we have two Mokous to-"

She never got the chance to finish that thought, as Kaguya had suddenly shoved her aside as she scrambled toward Mokou's body. The Lunarian princess snatched up Mokou's head and shoved it back onto its neck.

"Come on, heal!" Kaguya shouted. She twisted it around, making sure that the vertebrae were lined up. "I am not dealing with two of you! Heal already!"

For the longest of moments nothing happened. Then, to Kaguya's immense relief, the skin started to pull together. There was a grinding sound as the spinal column reattached itself and became whole. All the while, Mokou's head twitched and wobbled back and forth.

Then Mokou's already open eyes popped even wider and she starting gagging. She shoved Kaguya aside and pitched forward onto her palms and knees. She retched and blood, bile, and white fragments that Kaguya guessed where bits of bone fell from her mouth to splatter onto the deck, mixing with the gore left from the Zerg.

Shaking, she straightened into a sitting position. "Okay, that one was unpleasant," she said. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "What happened?"

"You got your head chopped off," Kaguya explained. "Not me this time, by the way."

"Yeah, I remember that big bastard. What happened then? Why aren't we digested?"

"We almost were," Rumia said. "But then we were saved by…uh…" She glanced over to Kaguya, her eyes pleading for some kind of explanation.

"By one of the most blatant Deux ex Machinas I have seen in my long, long life," Kaguya said. "And believe me, I've seen a _lot._ Usually I'd be complaining, but since this time it's saving my ass instead for a change, I think I'll let it slide."

Mokou stared at her. She turned to Rumia. "I…didn't understand a word of that."

"Hey, don't look at me," Rumia said, shrugging. "You know her better than I do. If anything, you're supposed to be translating the crazy Kaguya-talk to _me!"_

Kaguya wanted to kill both of them. "A bunch of swirly clouds of death came down and killed all the Zerg, all right?" she snapped. "It's weird, I know. I don't get it, but we're stuck in a godsdamned dream world. So just deal with it?"

"Um…" Mokou looked to Rumia for clarification. Rumia just shrugged again and nodded, as if to say, "Something like that."

"Well, okay. We were saved by the disgusting monsters by a death storm out of nowhere. Glad that's out of the way," Mokou said as she rose to her feet. She started to use her flames to clean herself. "Though there's one more thing that needs to be cleared up."

Kaguya eyed the mess on the deck. "Tell me about it. Don't go burning that stuff off, though. I don't think this boat's fireproof."

"I didn't mean literally. There's one more thing I don't get."

"Mokou, get serious," Kaguya said with a smirk. "The number of things you don't get could fill a small-"

"How do you know what those things are called?" Mokou asked.

Kaguya's internal reaction to that question was not quite unlike flying at breakneck speed only to have someone grab you by the hair. The remainder of her mocking observation was derailed, and she faltered as she tried to bring her mind back on track. "Wait…wha…"

"You called those monsters 'The Zerg'. I didn't know that name, and Rumia didn't either. How did you know?"

Grimacing, Kaguya gave herself a mental kick. Mokou just had to pick up on that slip of tongue. "Uh, the Zerg. Right. See, they're…" She quickly searched her brain for some kind of plausible sounding explanation, anything other than "They're from a video game I really like."

"This race that the Lunarians have gone to war with in the past!" she blurted out. "I read about them in histories, and saw recordings of the war! That's where I know them from!"

Now it was Mokou's turn to smirk. "So you _are _responsible for them being here."

Kaguya grimaced. One step to the side, no steps forward. "I…uh…" She shot Rumia a pleading look. Rumia shrugged once again and said, "Hey, don't look at me. I was thinking the same thing. She just got to the accusations first."

"Well, what I meant to say what that they _reminded _me of the Zerg," Kaguya quickly said. "There's similarities. Not saying that they're _actually _the-"

"Save it, Moonbitch," Mokou said. "We're in your deranged mind now. Admit it."

Rumia cleared her throat. "Actually, there's a problem with that theory."

"Shut up," Mokou said to her. "Wait until I'm done making her look like a fool."

"I am not interested in waiting that long. And there's still a problem. We can't have gotten into Kaguya's subconscious or whatever already."

"Yeah? And why not? Because those things sure as hell didn't come from me."

"I know. It's a paradox. But still, the fact remains that we haven't left your little world yet. No thresholds were passed, the center of your unconscious mind was not accessed."

"How do you know?" Mokou demanded. "What about the burning of Kamakura and that thing with my brother? Anyone else remember that? Seems to have been pretty personal to me!"

"So what? Unless your entire life has revolved around those two ugly instances, those were just little dark secrets from the back of your mind! And seeing how long you've been wreaking havoc, there's probably hundreds more just like them! No, we haven't left yet. Trust me on this."

"Then explain Kaguya's monsters showing up in huge numbers!" Mokou shouted. She pointed an accusatory finger at the girl in question. "I haven't even _heard _of these things until now!"

"Hmmm, yes. That is strange," Rumia said as she rubbed her chin. She closed her eyes and touched a finger to her temple as she thought. "Well, there's one possible explanation. What could have happened is-"

"Mokou decided to go through my games?" Kaguya suggested. "And the Zerg frightened her so badly that she started having nightmares?"

"I thought you said that they were from Lunarian history," Mokou said in a mild voice.

Kaguya rolled her eyes. No point in hiding it now. "I lied. They're from a game. I play games. Get over it."

"Nerd."

"No!" Rumia shouted. "No, no, no! My gods, you two have over a thousand years apiece and yet you still have the attention span of kindergarteners! Can we have one conversation that doesn't descend into pointless bickering?"

"How about pointy bickering?" Kaguya suggested. She held up both her swords. "I can get behind that."

"Finally we agree on something," Mokou said.

Rumia buried her face in her palm. "Out of all the traveling companions to be stuck with…Look, it's perfectly simple. Instead of both of you having your own little private dream worlds to explore and cut through, it's possible that Rin Satsuki melded your subconsciouses together to create one big world. A hybrid."

Kaguya and Mokou stopped their quarrel immediately. Almost in unison, they turned to stare at her.

"Wait," Kaguya said. "You're saying that my mind and hers are now…connected?"

"It's possible…"

"No!" Mokou suddenly screamed. "No, no, no nononononoNO! I do _not _have a mental link with this…this inbred, brainless, soulless, failure of a lunatic princess!"

Kaguya whirled around to face her. "Say that to my face!"

"I just _did!"_

"Will you two just _shut up!" _Rumia screeched. "It's just a _theory, _all right?"

"And. It's. _Wrong!" _Mokou snarled. "We left my mind and entered hers. It's the only possible explanation."

"No it's not!" Kaguya said. "We don't know for sure that this is my mind. I mean, it's not like there was a big flashing sign that said 'Welcome to Kaguyaland, enjoy your stay!' Though come to think of it, that would be pretty awesome."

"What, are you _blind? _Where else could those Zerk have come from?"

"Zerg. And that alone doesn't prove it. You've invaded my home plenty of times. I've got posters and stuff."

"Like I pay attention to those when I'm trying to avoid the guards and stab out your eyes!"

Rumia rolled her eyes. "Okay…This isn't going to end any time soon. I'm going below deck. You two just keep screaming at each other. See if that produces a workable solution."

"It usually does," Kaguya said. "Of course, that solution usually involves bits of Mokou being scattered all over the place."

"Don't flatter yourself, Moonbitch," Mokou said. "I've dismembered you just as many times, if not more."

"Like I said, look me up when you stop acting like a bunch of kids," Rumia said as she walked past them. "Of course, we'll probably have gone right around the world before that…"

Rumia's words died on her lips. She stopped short and stared at the sky.

"Oh, what's with you?" Kaguya said crossly. "I thought you were busy storming off angrily and the like."

Mokou, however, had also noticed what Rumia was looking at. "The sun's going down."

"So?" Kaguya said. "It's the sun, it…" Then realization struck her. "Oh, wait. Damn it."

"Funny that it's finally decided to act naturally," Rumia muttered. "After all, it hasn't so much as moved for hours."

"So, what does this mean?" Mokou asked.

"It means the dream is changing," Kaguya muttered. "End previous scene, begin next act."

"Great. So whose nightmare are we gonna have to fight our way out of now?"

"No way of telling," Rumia said. "This can't be good though. Are either of you afraid of the dark?"

Kaguya snorted back laughter while Mokou rolled her eyes.

"No? Well, you should be. Dreams heighten our basic instincts. Lust, greed, attachment, and especially fear. Fear of the dark is about as basic as you can get. There's always a monster in the shadows. In dreams this is taken literally. I'd advise we watch our step here."

"How very philosophical of you," Mokou muttered. "Especially since as a youkai, and not a particularly nice one at that, you _are _the monster in the shadows."

Rumia grinned. "Then I'm qualified to judge. But still, there's always a bigger predator. And in here, there's no tellin-HOLY SHIT!"

Kaguya jumped up at her exclamation, but as it turned out Rumia wasn't reacting to danger, but surprise. The sun had disappeared completely and the stars had come out. All of them.

"Wow," Mokou said as she stared upward. "I've never seen so many of them. And definitely not this bright."

Rumia's eye, however, were focused at a point beyond her head. "Mokou. Kaguya. Turn around. L-look over there."

They did. Mokou's jaw dropped open and she had to grab the mast to steady herself. It was quite literally a sight unlike any she had ever seen and beyond anything she could have imagined. For Kaguya thought it was much worse, as it was a sight that she _had _seen before and never wanted to see again.

The bright sphere of the Earth hung suspended in the sky past the sails. It was huge, taking up nearly a third of the sky. Beyond the swirls of clouds Kaguya could pick out oceans, continents, and islands.

"It can't be," Kaguya whispered. "It…can't…"

She rushed to the side of the ship and looked down. She had to keep herself from screaming.

The ocean was gone, disappeared as completely as Kamakura had. In its place was a rolling desert of grey dust and rocks, pock-marked with craters. And yet the _Kobayashi Maru _was sailing forward just as smoothly as if it were still in water.

"The Moon," Kaguya breathed. "I'm back on the…But no, that's impossible. We can't be…Please, not here…"

Mokou was at her side in the instant. "What? We're in your old…" She peered over the edge. Her face went pale. "Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh _shit!"_

Kaguya just shook her head. She took a step back only to stumble onto her behind as her legs seemed to lose their strength.

"But still, there's no denying it now, right?" Mokou said. "We're in her world. This is about as much proof as you can get. We're in Kaguya's world now, right?"

"Maybe," Rumia said. She walked over to stare at the ocean of moon dust with evident interest. "This still might be a hybrid though. But I think we can say with certainty that we are not exclusively in your subconscious." She turned to Kaguya. "And hey, this is actually good news for you! Think of it as a vacation home!"

Kaguya curled her knees up under her chin and covered her head with her arms. She started to cry.

…

_It's been a while since we've had one of these, huh? I'm starting to consider this to be my breather story, something to go have fun with when things over in Imperfect Metamorphosis start to get too heavy. Whenever I need a break, I can just come here and have Kaguya and Mokou kick ass, drop pop-culture references and die in amusing ways. Funny about it being so short though, seeing how IM just got the longest chapter it's ever seen. But whatev, we need the occasional breezy chapter._

_In other news, how about Ten Desires being announced? Pretty exciting stuff, huh? Can't wait to see what new characters ZUN has for us to play with! :D_

_Until next time, everyone!_


	5. The Dark Side of the Moon

The Dark Side of the Moon

_They had to hold her back to keep her from rushing forward. That didn't mean she didn't see._

_Her brother's head sat on the table, surrounded by the blood-stained folds of the package that it had arrived in. Father was standing over it, staring down at the remains of his eldest son. Though he said nothing, though he did not move, wordless rage was boiling all over his face._

"_Umakai?" the girl cried as the servants tried to restrain her. "Umakai! No, let go of me! Umakai!"_

_Father's eyes flashed in her direction. At first it seemed that he was about to rebuke her for her emotional outburst, but as he watched his daughter reach for her brother, the anger on his face broke into poorly concealed grief. His eyes fell and he said, "Get her out of here."_

_The servants started to move her from the room. Even though she was still a small slip of a girl, she continued to struggle against them as she cried out for her brother. The air around her hands grew warmer as smoke started to rise from her fingertips._

_And then someone said her name. The servants' hands suddenly disappeared, soon followed by the heat she had gathered. A soft hand slipped into hers. She looked up to see the face of her remaining brother looking down at her._

"_Come on, little sister," he said. It was clear that he was struggling to keep his voice calm for her benefit._

_Her brother led her from the room and out of the house. There, they sat on the porch together and stared at the garden. The day was deceptively peaceful, with the small brook babbling as it wound its way around the rocks and the sparrows chirping as they flitted among the sunlit branches. _

_This was wrong, the girl decided. The House of Fujiwara had lost its heir. Her brother had been murdered. The garden should somehow reflect this. It should know of the wrong done to the family that had tended and cared for it. _

"_Little sister, your hands are smoking again," her brother said._

_She looked down saw that he was right. Not only that, she was gripping the side of the porch with her shaking fingers. If she didn't reestablish control, she could risk sending the whole place up in flames._

_She quickly released the porch and held her hands in the air before her while she struggled to bring her power under control. When she could, she said, "How…"_

"_Pirates," her brother said. "Hired by the Sonozika __family." He did not meet her eyes. Perhaps he was ashamed that she would see his tears._

"_They did that to him?" she whispered._

"_Yes."_

"_Why?" _

"_To send a message to Father. They mean to go to war."_

"_But…but…" She stared through tear-filled eyes at her hands. When it had been discovered what she could do, the whole family had been ecstatic. A daughter who could create and control fire itself? The possibilities were endless! They would hold the monopoly on metalwork and construction, and that was just scratching the surface. She remembered Father boasting about how no one would dare assault the Family and how proud she had been to know that she was the cause of his happiness. _

_But now, she wanted nothing more than to go find the Sonozika family and use her gift to wipe it off the face of the Earth. After that, the pirates that they had hired. Sure, they had only done it for gold, but it had been their blade that had separated her brother's head from his body. His blood was on their hands. As such, their lives were forfeit. _

_Her vision blurred as her hands started shaking. Smoke rose up from her palms and the air filled with the smell of sulfur._

_Then her brother yelled her named and grabbed her wrist, halting the inferno in its tracks. Surprised, she stared at him with wet and questioning eyes._

"_That is not the way," he said firmly._

"_But…"_

"_The Sonozikas have been preparing for this for a long time. Do you think that they do not know what you can do? They've been hiring magicians, ones that can also command the elements. Word has it that they've even courted the services of Madam Mima herself. To go against them would be to throw your life away. Do you think that Umakai would have wanted that? Has this family not lost enough members already?"_

"_I…" She struggled to think of a response. She wanted to protest, to declare that it didn't matter what preparations the Sonozikas had. They could not be allowed to get away with what they had done. They deserved to be incinerated, to be broken and scattered, to have their home turned to ash and their land set aflame. But she couldn't. Because her brother was right. She couldn't win that fight, especially if the witch Madam Mima were opposing her. She would die in the attempt, and her family would have lost its greatest weapon. And then her father and brother would be the only ones left._

_A wave of helplessness rose up within her and broke the dam holding back her grief. She fell against her brother's chest as she wept. Fortunately, like Father, he did not reprimand her for her loss of control. He just put an arm around her shoulder and let her cry._

"_Don't worry, we'll find a way," he said. "We'll…" He swallowed and continued. "We'll find a way to avenge him. We won't let them win. You'll see."_

_She nodded. If there was one thing she knew for certain, it was that. Even if she could not go and deliver their vengeance to the Sonozikas, the Fujiwara family was going to be revenged. And when that happened, magicians or no magicians, they had better pray that there was someone on hand to…_

…hold her back to keep her from rushing forward.

"No!" Kaguya yelled as Mokou and Rumia gripped her arms. "We can't be back here!"

"Why the hell not?" Mokou growled. This was getting annoying. "You came from this place! You telling me you never…Ah, damn."

Kaguya had slipped her sleeves, leaving Mokou and Rumia holding an empty robe. The Lunar Princess dodged her way through the maze of Zerg body parts, bounded up the stern and started spinning the helm in a blurring circle.

"Turn us around!" she cried. "Take us back! The Zerg were better than this! Where's the water, we need to find the-"

She didn't get much further than that, as Mokou had leapt up after her and slammed a fist right into Kaguya's face. Kaguya's eyes bulged and she was lifted right off her feet. She flew back and smacked her head against the stern. That stupid hat of hers tumbled to her feet.

Mokou grinned as Kaguya slid lifelessly to the deck. While the terms of their truce had been quite specific considering methods of murder, it was a bit on the vague side when it dealt with punching each other out. She loved loopholes.

"Well, that's one way of calming her down," Rumia remarked as she walked up to the pair. "What the hell was that all about? I thought she grew up here."

Mokou picked up Kaguya's green silk hat. "Yeah, as the youngest of a royal family with a hierarchy based upon gender and order of birth. She was pretty much just a piece of furniture, with absolutely no worth to her family save to be married off for some political agenda or another. So she and Eirin Yagokoro went and turned her into the first true immortal as a way to elevate her status to the top of the heap. That backfired spectacularly, and she got kicked out. Then she moved to Earth and discovered that she liked it a whole lot better than this place. I guess having people actually pay attention to her for once endeared her to it. She and Yagokoro even went and screwed up with the rotation of the Earth once just to keep from going back."

Rumia tilted her head to one side. "You've given this a whole lot of thought."

"Hey, try being someone's mortal enemy for hundreds of years. You pick up on a few things."

"Huh. So, what kind of trouble can we expect here?"

Mokou shrugged. "You've got me. Never been here before." She tossed the hat overboard and felt a strange measure of pleasure and irritation when it sank into the dust, just as if it had landed in water. "We'll probably be meeting her family sooner or later. Or maybe those psycho Watatsuki sisters that made trouble a little while ago."

"I'm really not following any of this."

"Too bad, I don't feel like explaining. I'll leave that to her."

Mokou walked over to Kaguya, who was starting to stir. "Hey, come on Moonbitch," she said. She started poking Kaguya's cheeks. "Wakey, wakey, Rumia needs some exposition."

Kaguya's dazed eyes focused. With a hiss, she lunged for Mokou's head, likely intending to give it a sharp twist. Mokou, who had been expecting just that, simply rolled out of the way.

"Ah, ah, ah, no killing, remember?" Mokou said. "Now, get up."

Kaguya groaned as she pushed herself to a sitting position. Then she looked up.

It was kind of funny, watching all the hope drain from her like that. One moment she was grimacing with the dazedness that usually follows unconsciousness, and the next it melted away into crushing despair. Mokou made a note of that. Kaguya's lunarphobia was something she could exploit in the future.

"We're still here," Kaguya said as she stared at the glimmering orb of the Earth.

"Yep," Mokou said. "Home sweet home. At least for you."

Kaguya gave her a look of utter disgust. "Anything but," she said as she braced her hands against the stern and pushed herself up. "We need to get out of here. Now."

"Why?" Rumia asked. "I mean, this place is weird and all, but what makes it any more dangerous than any place else we're likely to find on this horror show?"

Kaguya already looked upset. But as Rumia spoke, those feeling ignited into anger. She stomped over to where the lockpick was standing and shoved her face into Rumia's. "You ignorant fool. Don't you get it? I _hate _this place. I'll do anything to stay away from here. There are a lot of bad memories about this chunk of rock. So, where do you think the majority of my nightmares for the last several _centuries _have taken place?"

"All right, I get it," Rumia said as she pushed Kaguya's face away. "So if you're such an expert on how screwed up this place is, how about you give the rest of us a little bit of a head's-up on what we can expect?"

Her question went unanswered. There was a sudden sound of something crunching as the ship gave a violent lurch, knocking both Kaguya and Mokou off their feet sending them tumbling onto the deck. Rumia stumbled and clutched at the helm for support. The _Kobayashi Maru _tilted to one side as a nerve-harrying scraping sound filled their ears.

"What's going on?" Mokou shouted as she threw her arms around the mast. "Are we under attack?"

Kaguya didn't answer. She was too busy grasping for something to hang onto as she tumbled and rolled down the sloping deck.

The ship continued to tip over. The mast had ceased to be vertical and was now flirting with a diagonal state. Soon that relationship would run its course and it would move on to horizontal. Mokou grunted as she hauled herself around the mast. She then sprung off the side. Her family's ceremonial blade flashed as she yanked it out and stabbed it into the gore-stained deck. Mokou kept a firm grip on the handle as she braced her legs against the deck, which was now looking an awful like a wall. She shoved off, flipping herself up and over the sword. The _Kobayashi Maru _was fortunately not a large ship, but Mokou still had to stretch her legs to their fullest length in order to wrap around the railing.

Now, hauling one's self up and over a railing with nothing more than the strength of your midsection while holding on to said railing with your legs and yanking a sword out of a wooden beam was a task that even a skilled gymnast would find daunting, especially when the railing so happened to be moving forward at the time. Fortunately, Mokou had lived a long and varied life. And as such she was soon crouching on the side of the ship with her blade in hand, having exerted herself no more than any number of times she had to move quickly in order to avoid one of Kaguya's attacks.

What she saw next suggested that perhaps she was going to have to exert herself just a little more.

A pillar of wrinkled stone was thrusting itself out of the ground. It was the same fine grey color as the dust they had been plowing through, and thick enough that five people touching fingertips would have been required to wrap their arms around its body. And, as if to serve no other reason than to remind Mokou that the world that she was in made no sense whatsoever, white lilies dotted its body, blissfully unaware that they had no business growing there.

Mokou gaped as she watched it shoot higher and higher. The thing was almost thirty feet tall and showed no signs of slowing down.

"Gods, it looks like a giant, maggot-covered turd," said a nearby voice.

Mokou turned to see Rumia crouching next to her, her gold-hilted blade in hand. "Yeah, it kind of does," Mokou said. "And how did you get up here so fast?"

"Same way I did," Kaguya snapped as she jogged up to the pair. "She freaking _flew!" _

"Seriously Mokou, this is like the second time you forgot that you don't have to climb anywhere," Rumia said. "I mean, okay, that was an impressive display just now, but completely unnecessary."

Mokou was struck with the familiar urge to set them both alight. Partially because they were both so thoroughly irritating, but mostly because they were right. True, her powers had been malfunctioning ever since they had found themselves here, and it would be wise not to put too much faith in them. But still, she hadn't even attempted flight at all. Checking to see if it were still possible would have taken as much time as thought, and while her efforts had not been exactly strenuous, a single misstep could have easily escalated into a fatal error. And as she had been operating under the presumption that she was subject to gravity's whim, there had been every likelihood that she would have found herself tumbling to the sea of dust and petals.

That was one of the many, many things she hated about this place. Until now, her life had been one of comfortable routine. Certainly her living conditions were less than stellar, and she had to suffer through regular bouts of excruciating pain at Kaguya's hands, but that had been going on so long that it had ceased to impress. And at least then there had been a feeling of sureness about how things worked. If she wanted to fly, her feet left the ground. If she wanted to summon flame into existence, there would be a ball of heat and light hovering over her palm. And sooner or later, either she or Kaguya would seek the other out and they would fight until someone ended up dead. And then that someone would resurrect and the cycle would begin anew. There was no question if things might change. There was no uncertainty regarding her ability to fly or whether or not she was going to return fully from death. It simply happened.

But now that certainty was being called into question. She no longer could trust her own abilities, which to date had been just as much a part of her as her hair and hands. Uncertainty led to self-doubt, which in turn threatened to erode the foundation of everything that made her the person she was. And why in the world was she sitting on the side of a tipping ship having an internal moral debate when there was a _giant monster covered in flowers coming out of the ground not ten feet away?_

The thing had stopped rising. It was now at least forty feet tall. It reared back so that the elongated point of its tip was directed toward them. The tip separated into six flaps, which opened like the peels of a banana, revealing the thing's gullet.

It roared at them.

Mokou's nose wrinkled as the thing's rank breath washed over them. Then, more out of curiosity than anything, she pointed a finger at the worm and gave a mental command. A beam of flame, no thicker than a chopstick but hot enough to cut through steel, lanced out from her fingertip and slammed into the worm's side.

It didn't even notice.

Well, there went _that _idea. "Run!" she yelled as she turned around and leapt from the side of the ship. "Fly! Whatever!"

To her relief, her body remained in the air as it was supposed to. She kept her arms pinned to her sides and her face straight forward as she shot forward, putting as much distance between her and the ship as possible.

"Wait!" she heard Rumia call.

Mokou looked over her shoulder and saw the self-proclaimed lockpick following close behind. She was waving frantically at Mokou, gesturing for her to stop. With a grimace of annoyance Mokou adjusted her flight path to take her straight up, putting a comfortable distance between her and the Moon before coming to a stop.

"What?" she shouted as Rumia caught up.

Rumia shoved her feet in front of her as she slowed, almost as if she were skidding across solid ground. "We forgot Kaguya!" she yelled.

Mokou gaped at her. "What? She was right behind…" She blinked and looked back toward the _Kobayashi Maru. _

The giant worm thing was still focused on the overturned ship. It was rearing its blind head back, no doubt intending to smash right through the _Kobayashi Maru's _hull. Mokou squinted her eyes and focused on the ship itself. Though her eyesight was exceptional, she could only just make out a tiny figure sitting directly beneath the worm's head.

Mokou slapped a palm against her forehead in disbelief. "Oh, are you kidding me?" she said. "She's still there?"

"We need to go back for her!" Rumia shouted. She grabbed Mokou by the wrist. "We can't get out of here without-Owwww!" She immediately released Mokou's arm and starting blowing on her fingertips, all of which were now slightly singed.

"Don't touch me," Mokou growled. She redirected her focus on the miniscule figure of the person she hated the most, who was still cowering in the worm's shadow. Her eyes narrowed, and her grip on her sword tightened.

...

_Out of all of our people's forays into the world of genetic manipulation, the velmick is perhaps our greatest success. At the same time, it is our most disastrous failure._

Somewhere in the furthest recesses of her mind, Kaguya was back in school, listening to Eirin recite her lesson for the day. Out of the many childhood memories that had been lost to the trek of time, this was one that had always managed to remain with her. It made a certain amount of sense, as it was devoted to the creation of one of the Moon's greatest monsters, something Kaguya had always found relevant to her interests.

…_created to be the perfect defense against invaders. Undetectable despite their incredible size. Tough enough to survive the vacuum of space. Impervious to most weapons. Fast enough to catch a spacecraft flying overhead. Strong enough to rend its hull apart and devour everything inside._

Of course, her fascination with such creatures was not the only reason why this moment stuck out in her mind. Everyone was afraid of the velmick, especially children. It was common for parents to appeal to the worms as a means of instilling obedience. "Do as I say, or the velmick will come for you." Or perhaps, "Go to bed, or I'll tell the velmick." And Kaguya was no exception. Many of her earliest nightmares had involved the monsters.

…_succeeded beyond everyone's expectations. The creatures were as powerful as they were vicious, swift as they were relentless. And thanks to some, ahem, "special" engineering, they were equipped with senses beyond what nature was capable of gifting, allowing them to sense prey through the very fabric of space itself…_

And therein had laid the problem. Though the Lunarian scientists were successful in creating the perfect monster, they had failed to come up with a way to control them. Originally the velmick were to be directed remotely by signals beamed into their nervous systems, but the same super-thick hide that had been designed as a protection against the vacuum of space also prevented any transmissions from entering. Any sort of device injected into the creatures would quickly become crushed in the folds of stony flesh. Their own physiology made sedating them impossible. And thanks to how they had been designed, the creatures were entirely incapable of being trained.

…_destroying them was, of course, out of the question. A considerable amount of money and resources had gone into their creation, and no one wanted that to go to waste. Instead, they were contained, sealed off in a special facility until a solution could be found…_

That had been the idea, at least. Keep the worms locked away until the best and brightest could figure out a way to make them follow commands. Unfortunately, the velmick had been intended for wide open areas. As such, they did not take kindly to being held in a small space.

Long story short, they had escaped. People died, and the worms had made it to the open plains of the Moon. And from there, they started to breed.

All of this had taken place a long time ago. Now, all Lunarian settlements were heavily protected by forcefields, specially reinforced walls, and a considerable amount of space/time warping. The velmick roamed the wide wastes and continued to be a clear and present danger to anyone foolish enough to wander into their territory. There weren't very many of them. They did not reproduce easily. But they did not die easily either. And all you needed was one to ruin your whole day.

Eirin's lesson had been very thorough. It had to be. The velmick were incredibly dangerous. No one had known that better than her. After all, she had been their principle designer. And she had wanted Kaguya to learn from her mistake, to learn that sometimes misdirected successes could wreak more destruction than outright failures. That had been the intention at least. But really, all it had done was give a young Kaguya Houraisan nightmares. Lots and lots of nightmares, all of them involving her fleeing for her life while being pursued by a relentless predator burrowing its way beneath the surface. She could never see it, but she always knew it was there, following her every step of the way, ready to seize her in its jaws and pull her down into the earth…

Of course, after her rise to immortality and subsequent exile, she had found new things to haunt her dreams. Dramatic fears replaced the primal, and giant carnivorous worms had been replaced by the taunting and bloated faces of her those who had tried to hold her down. She had expected to see those faces again upon their arrival. That had been what she had feared. To relive the pain and humiliation all over again.

But that was not the case. Her oldest nightmare had returned, resurrected from whatever deep recesses of her subconscious had been serving as its crypt. And it was _not _happy that it had been forgotten.

The flowers were new though. She couldn't account for those.

Kaguya stared as the velmick hovered over her. Though it had no eyes, it gave off the impression that it was staring at her. Though she knew that she should be fleeing, her body ignored all commands to move. She was paralyzed by fear, incapable of doing anything as the point of its massive head opened and spread wide. It reared upward, preparing to strike.

And then a red-and-white blur slammed into her side with enough force to carry her out of the way as the velmick slammed its head right where she had been kneeling. There was a horribly familiar feeling of something in her lower back coming apart, and suddenly her legs ceased to work. The impact had snapped her spine.

Despite this, she cried out more in surprise than pain. The destruction of her backbone was nothing new. What was worthy of comment was that Mokou was now carrying her up and away, out of harm's reach.

Slung over Mokou's shoulder, Kaguya could only stare numbly as the velmick hammered her ship with its pointed head. The hull was splintered in two and the mast smashed to pieces. But that alone was not enough to appease the monster's spite, as it then wrapped its body around the ship's wreckage.

It drew its coils in tight, and the _Kobayashi Maru _was crushed to kindling.

...

Saving Kaguya's life was a new experience for Mokou. And had she not been occupied with putting enough distance between them and the giant worm thing as possible, she might have found it deeply troubling. However, there was in fact a giant worm thing lusting for their blood. So any possible moral crises would have to wait.

At the moment, her attention was focused on the sphere of the Earth. Mokou had come to agree with Kaguya's position that the Moon was not a place they wanted to be. And as such, so long as the dream would allow them to fly through space without suffering any ill effects, she was going to fly them straight back to their home planet. With any luck, Kaguya would burn up upon entry to the atmosphere.

Rumia was hovering above them, waiting. She held up her hands and shouted for them to stop. Mokou ignored her. Escape now, worry about picking up the pieces of their quest later.

She zeroed in on the Earth, increased her speed and…

A moment later Mokou blinking spots out of her vision and wishing her head didn't feel like it was full of liquid. Her neck was doing that funny little twitching thing that always happened whenever it healed after a break. Warm blood was splattered all over her face, presumably related to the fact that her nose was now quite flat.

"Wha…what" she managed to mutter.

"That's what I was trying to tell you, you idiot!" Rumia shouted at her. "It's a fake! You smashed right into it!"

Her neck was now sufficiently healed enough to turn. To her chagrin, Rumia was holding both her and Kaguya aloft by their shirts.

"Let go!" Mokou shouted as she twisted out of Rumia's grip and immediately put a comfortable distance between them. She growled and twisted her still-healing neck back and forth, popping the vertebrae into their proper position.

"Fine," Rumia said as she hefted Kaguya up into both hands. "You can just fall to your very messy death next time."

Mokou didn't even bother dignifying that with a response. However, her eyes narrowed when she saw that Rumia was wearing her family blade in addition to her own. "What the hell happened?" she asked. "And why do you have my sword?" She touched her crushed nose, feeling it slowly expand back to its usual size.

Rumia pointed up. "You ran face-first into that and dropped your sword. I save both it and you, so say 'Thank you'. Also, most of India is now flooded with your blood."

Confused, Mokou stared up at the Earth. A large blood splatter now covered a good chunk of one of peninsulas.

A numb feeling swept through her that had nothing to do with her recently broken neck. Mokou flew up to the Earth, cautiously this time. When it looked close enough to touch, she reached out with one hand and touched it.

Her fingers pressed against painted metal.

"No," she said. She immediately darted several feet above the false planet and shoved her hand against what appeared to be the emptiness of space. But the void turned out to be more metal covered with black paint and studded with tiny glowing crystals.

"No," Mokou said again. She desperately patted illusion with both hands, searching for a way out. "No, no, no! You are not going to trap me in here! Not with that thing, and not with them!" She swooped back to the representation of Earth and pounded her fist against it.

"Open up, you hear me!" she shouted. "Come out and face me in person! Or are you too scared, you-"

"Mokou, look out!"

Mokou turned and saw, to her utter dismay, that the giant worm thing was now lunging for her, its mouth wide open. The fact that she was nearly eighty feet in the air did not seem to discourage it.

She did not have enough time to move out of the way. She didn't even have enough time for some sort of sardonic observation. She only had time to acknowledge her impending demise before the thing engulfed her and swallowed her whole.

...

Kaguya was not at her best.

This had nothing to do with the fact that she had just been paralyzed from the waist down. That was a temporary inconvenience and would soon be forgotten as soon as her spine finished knitting itself back together. No, her ragged state of mind was due to a quick succession of emotional shocks, each of them different but more-or-less equally poignant.

First, there had been the sudden transition from sailing upon the open seas to plowing through the surface of the absolute last place she wanted to be. As soon as it had dawned upon her where they were, literally hundreds of memories of terrifying dreams revolving around the Moon had come rushing back, and the knowledge that she might very well be experiencing each and every one of them had shaken her far more than she had thought possible.

And then, if only to confirm her fears, there had been the sudden reappearance of one of her childhood nightmares. Running from those monsters in her dreams had been bad enough. To have one actually stare down at her was nothing short of terrifying. That had been enough to numb her mind and paralyze her with fear.

The indignation of having to watch said nightmare destroy the _Kobayashi Maru _while she was whisked to safety by Mokou of all people had partially jolted her brain back into action, but it had not restored her to a rational state of mind. Quite the opposite, in fact. She had _liked _that boat. Sure, it wasn't exactly a luxury yacht (or even real, for that matter), but it had been hers. She had delivered the blow that had delivered it from the hands of its previous master. And then she had watched it get crushed to scrap wood while she had been helpless to defend it. And it was only because of Mokou's quick actions that she had not suffered the same fate. That upset her. She had failed in her duty as captain and as party leader.

And then insult had been added to injury when that same worm had swallowed up her arch-nemesis. Normally Kaguya would be ecstatic. Mokou's immortality meant that she had a long and excruciating trip ahead of her, being digested and regenerating only to be digested all over again, until the worm finally shat her out. Extreme suffering coupled with equally extreme humiliation. That would be enough to put her score so high that Mokou would have to successfully kill her every night for a full century before she even had a hope of catching up. But today, the thought gave her no joy. Mokou had been in the act of trying to save her when the velmick had caught her. And it was not by Kaguya's will that she had been devoured in the first place. In short, the velmick had killed one of her party members _and _stolen her kill at the same time. Killing Mokou was her exclusive privilege. And no overgrown child's fear dragged out from the recesses of her unconscious mind was going to disrespect that.

The worm needed to die. It needed to die a lot.

Kaguya tried to wiggle her toes and found that she could. Then twisted her body out of Rumia's grasp. Rumia's attention had been focused on the worm and as such was taken by surprise.

"What are you doing?" she hissed. "You better not be planning anything stupid."

In truth, Kaguya was not. She really wasn't planning much of anything. By this point, she was operating on pure killer instinct, honed over centuries of use.

When the velmick gobbled Mokou up, it had kept going and thus smashed right through the painted depiction of Earth. Its head was still in the resulting hole, forming a long heaving column of mottled grey flesh and white flowers that stretched all the way from the dusty surface of the Moon to the illusionary planet. Looking at it now, Kaguya wondered why she had been so scared of it. After all, it was just a big worm. Sure it was big and dangerous, but so had been many other things she had been forced to deal with over the years.

"Ha…" she murmured as blue energy collected around her palms.

She held her hands together, letting the power grow, forming a crackling sphere.

"…do…"

Then, once it was large enough, she hurled it toward the velmick with all her might.

"KEN!"

It hit, but there was no reaction. The velmick didn't seem to even notice.

This only served to anger Kaguya further. Of course a velmick's hide would be too thick to let something like that hurt it, but given how many rules of reality this dream had ignored thus far, this was the one it decided to obey?

"Hadoken!" she cried, launching another ball of blue energy. "Hadoken! Hadoken! Come on, _do _something alrea-glurk!"

Rumia had grabbed her neck in a sleeper hold and was now forcefully pulling her away. Acting on instinct, Kaguya jabbed an elbow into the lockpick's midsection, or at least tried to anyway. Rumia had evidently been expecting this and rewarded her efforts by twisting out of the way and throwing Kaguya a good ten feet through the air.

"Are you nuts?" Rumia shouted. "Stop trying to get its attention!"

Kaguya considered turning her assault on Rumia. If nothing else it would make her feel better. "I'm not trying to get its attention, I'm trying to kill it!"

"Like that? You're an idiot! It's a velmick! You of all people should know better!"

"I don't care. That thing doesn't scare me. I need to…"

The velmick finally noticed that its prey was not to be found on the other side of Earth and yanked its head out of the hole. It swung around toward Kaguya and Rumia and bellowed.

Oh right. _That_ was why Kaguya was scared of it.

Kaguya and Rumia threw themselves in opposite direction as the velmick lunged at them. It focused on Rumia and followed, snapping at her feet. Rumia was quick enough to keep out of reach, but the worm was relentless.

"Hey!" Rumia said as she dodged snap after snap. "Kaguya! A! Little! Help! Here!"

Kaguya looked at her and sighed. She held her arms above her head. Yellow energy surged up toward her hands and she shot it out in the form of a whistling comet. It exploded into sparks against the velmick's body. Several flowers were blasted away but there was no other effect.

"Right, already established that this wouldn't work," Kaguya said. "What would Prince Paul do? Okay, stupid question. Different kind of worm, so that means-"

Then her eyes fell upon the jagged hole that had been smashed out of the Earth.

"Rumia!" Kaguya shouted. She pointed. "Go for the hole!"

"Go for the what?" Rumia shouted back.

Kaguya was already making her way toward the exit. "The hole! Go for the hole!"

"What?" Rumia had managed to get behind the velmick's jaws and was now clinging to its body for dear life as the worm thrashed and bucked. "The bowl of what?"

"The _hole, _you idiot!" Kaguya screamed. She was now at the Earth herself. "There's a hole in the world!"

Rumia glanced at her. Her eyes widened when she saw what Kaguya was indicating. She released her hold on the worm and shot towards the hole, the velmick in hot pursuit.

Not interested in waiting, Kaguya shot through the Earth and came out the other side. She had no idea where it would take her, but anywhere had to be better than here.

...

At that moment, Mokou was just starting to slide down the velmick's gullet. Though its interior was not as hard as its outside, the muscles of its throat were still incredibly strong. She tried to shove her feet into its sides, but it was a futile effort. The muscles contracted, and her body was crushed.

...

To her dismay, the first thing Kaguya noticed as soon as she came out the other side was that the new sky above her was still an inky void filled with unblinking stars and the full sphere of the Earth. She had been nurturing a frantic hope that going through the hole would let her escape from the Moon, perhaps even take her to some sort of dream-representation of Gensokyo. That she could handle. Even if things went freaky again, at least she would be somewhere she was comfortable with. But apparently that was not to be.

The second thing she noticed was that she could no longer fly.

Kaguya screamed in surprise as her upward path suddenly curved against her will and the white (white?) ground rushed up to meet her. Then everything was a confusing mess of tumbling, rolling and softness (_softness? _What?) on a downhill slant before she finally came to a stop.

Kaguya shook the dazedness away and sat up. She was near the foot of a gently sloping hill. At first she thought that she was surrounded by snow. Certainly all visible ground was covered with half-a-foot of white matter. But upon further inspection she saw that it was not snow, but flower petals. An endless sea of fallen flower petals, all of the purest white.

Kaguya felt a chill go through her. She picked up a handful of petals and rubbed them between her fingers. Lilies. Considering the flowers that had covered the velmick, that probably wasn't a good sign.

Then, partially acting on mad impulse, she thrust her arm deep through the petals until she found the solid ground underneath. When she brought her hand back up it was covered with moon dust. This she found discouraging for more reasons than one. Not only was she still stuck on the Moon, the lack of sweet water underneath meant that there would be no rescues courtesy of messianic lions or gallant warrior mice.

Then she turned her attention to the top of the hill. There, taunting her with its improbability, was a white water tower. The tank was perfectly spherical, almost moonlike itself. Her point of entry, a ragged hole blasted out of one side, was clearly visible.

Kaguya's face twisted up in confusion. A water tower? The lily petals she could accept, but why a water tower? Then she shrugged and stood up. Whatever. She had other problems to worry about than out-of-place liquid containment receptacles. Such as her sudden loss of flight. And (something that still pained her) her sudden loss of boat. And then there was the fact that there was an oversized velmick on the loose, Mokou's sudden unavailability, the worrying fact that Rumia had yet to show, and…

Kaguya's hand leapt to her head. It was bare. Her muscles tensed in accompaniment with a persistent twitch of her right eye. Her hat was gone. Her new green pirate hat. And not only that, her swords had also gone down with the ship. And she had slipped her robe earlier. All she had left were her shirt and shorts. Now _that _was a serious downgrading of her inventory. She had practically been booted all the way down to level one. And there was still an economy-sized boss to deal with.

A sound tugged at her ear. Small at first, but it swiftly grew in intensity. Kaguya frowned. It sounded familiar. She thought she should be able to place it, but…

And then she realized that it was the sound of someone screaming. Not in pain or fear, but the sort of scream someone releases when they are doing something both exhilarating and very, very dangerous.

"…aaaaaaaaaAAAAA_AAAHHHH!"_

Rumia burst through the hole, flying as fast as she possibly could. Kaguya tensed, ready to run to her aid as soon as her own abilities shorted out and gravity took over.

It never happened. Rumia continued to fly on.

Kaguya made several incoherent sounds of protests before finally settling with, "That's…not fair."

A second later the velmick thrust its way through the hole. It lunged for Rumia, missed, and came crashing down to slide down the petal-covered slope, roaring all the way. Right towards Kaguya.

Shit.

Kaguya bunched up her muscles and leapt out of the way. She managed to get most of the way before it hit her with what felt like the force of an asteroid and sent her spinning.

Gasping, Kaguya tried to push herself to her feet but found it impossible. She looked down and found out why. Her right leg ended in a bloody stumpy halfway down the calf. The foot had been sheared right off.

Well, that was problematic.

"Rumia!" she called as she half-crawled, half-stumbled her way from the still-sliding velmick. "Get me out of here!"

A moment later two strong hands came up under her arms and lifted her off the ground. Kaguya stared as the sea of lilies quickly receded beneath her. Drops of blood dripped down from her severed foot to stain the petals crimson.

"Th-thanks," she panted.

"Don't mention it," Rumia growled. "You wanna explain why I had to?"

Kaguya gulped. "I c-can't fly," she said. "Lost it."

There was a pause, and then Rumia said, "That sucks."

"Yeah," Kaguya said. "The same thing happened to Mokou a couple times earlier. I'm just wondering why you still can."

"Oh, that's easy," Rumia said dismissively. "This is you guys' dream, not mine. I'm a trespasser here. It has no hold over me."

They came to a stop about a hundred feet above the ground. It was enough to confirm that, yes, it was indeed the Moon below them. It was just covered in lily petals for some inexplicable reason. Below, that damned worm was _still _coming out of the water tower. How long was that thing anyway?

"So, uh, you going to be okay?" Rumia asked. "Not being able to fly is one thing, but if you can't walk either…"

Kaguya reached down and pulled her injured leg up so she could get a look at it. It was rather awkward, given that she was being held up by her armpits a hundred feet in the air (sky? Space? Whatever), but she managed to bend it around enough to inspect the injury.

To her relief, the bleeding had stopped, and the flesh and bone were already growing back.

"Regeneration still works," she said, letting her foot fall. "There's that at least."

"For all the good it will do us," Rumia muttered. "I'm not interested in carrying your heavy ass everywhere, and we still need to deal with…"

Her voice trailed off. A second later she hissed, "Shit, I should have-"

She abruptly shut up.

"What?" Kaguya said. "You should have what?"

"Oh, never mind," Rumia growled.

"Nuh-uh," Kaguya said. She twisted her head around the best she could so as to look Rumia in the eye. "Nice try. Never trust a rogue when they say 'Never mind'. What is it that you should have-"

Rumia's hands disappeared and Kaguya was again falling. She had just enough time to gasp before Rumia swooped down to catch her again.

"Take the hint, Princess," Rumia hissed. "Drop it or I drop you."

Kaguya took it, but she still smiled in satisfaction. She had been right. There was something Rumia was hiding from her. And a bit of it had just slipped. Unfortunately, this was neither the time nor the place to pursue it further. In every conceivable way.

"Duly noted," Kaguya said dryly. "And since neither of us plan on having you carry me everywhere, might I suggest that we get the hell out of here? I suggest we try for Earth again, and hope this one isn't flat and made of paint."

"Can't," Rumia said. She hefted Kaguya up to give herself a better grip. "Mokou's still in that thing. We need to get her out."

"Must we?" Kaguya muttered, but she knew that Rumia was right. Kaguya herself was only one-half of the key. If they wanted to make it out of this unholy fusion of their subconscious minds and do unto Satsuki as she had done unto them, then they would need Mokou. And to get Mokou back, they had to figure out how to kill a giant worm monster from Kaguya's childhood memories that was all but indestructible.

Even though most of what they were experiencing came from Kaguya's mind, she was quite certain that Mokou's subconscious was the one conspiring against them. There was no other explanation for this degree of sadism.

"Okay," she said to Rumia. "Let's get this over with."

...

At that moment, Mokou's broken body was still sliding down the velmick's gullet. It managed to regenerate enough to partially restore her to consciousness, but it was only long enough for her to register overwhelming pain and a surprising amount of humidity. And then she was gone again.

...

"What's he doing?" Rumia asked. "Why isn't he diving?"

Kaguya frowned. "I don't know. I was wondering the same thing."

The two of them were crouching on a steep cliff that overlooked the field of lily petals. Kaguya was fairly certain the outcropping was not part of the actual Moon's geography, but she didn't object. She had stopped expecting authenticity a long time ago.

Below, their friend the velmick was merrily slithering his way through the white petals, seemingly uncaring of where he was going. Now that he had completely surfaced, Kaguya was able to appreciate just how large he was. Certainly he had been much thicker around than any velmick that existed in reality, but by her estimate he also had a good three times the average length.

Kaguya mumbled something under her breath.

"Say what?" Rumia said.

"I said I liked it better when we were in Mokou's nightmare. They worshipped me there and set her on fire. And they gave me a boat." She scowled. "I want my boat back."

"Focus, Kaguya. Kill this thing first. Then we can worry about finding some other means of transportation."

Kaguya plopped down and dangled her legs over the side of the cliff. "Got any bright ideas, then? Because I grew up being told how damned near unkillable those things are," she said as she swung them back and forth.

"Tell me about it," Rumia said. "Impervious to all elements, danmaku, all but the most powerful energy weapons. You could hit that thing with a meteor and you might succeed in pissing it off. No wonder you fear it. Full acknowledge of your people's skills, you sure know how to create an effective monster.

Kaguya's legs paused in mid-swing. "Okay," she said as they slowly came to rest. "And how…"

"Eh, it isn't like they're some big secret," Rumia said as she sat down next to her. Kaguya noticed then that she was still carrying the sword Mokou had taken from her brother. Now that was just unfair. It seemed that everyone was holding onto their powers and equipment except for her. "Anyone with any decent knowledge about the Lunarians knows about all those lovely beasties you've slapped together."

"Sure. Except wild Youkai aren't exactly known for looking up exotic fauna from foreign lands."

Rumia snickered at that. "True that. But it just so happens that a few weeks ago I took this job from some bibliophile of a Human who wanted my help liberating a bunch of rare books on foreign beasts from this vault in the Tengu Village. It paid okay, but my gods that guy wouldn't shut up about his precious monsters! Even when we were supposed to be sneaking into the place, he kept going on and on about this sort of three-headed bird or bipedal fish. But I remember him talking about the vermick. Guy was like in awe of the things. Seriously, if one had suddenly popped up and bit his head off, he'd consider it a fair exchange just to see one up close."

"Oh, really now?" Kaguya said as she watched their limbless adversary weave its way beneath them. She wondered where exactly Mokou's remains could be found in its digestion.

"Yes, really. Why, don't believe me?"

"Not a word. But you're pretty good at bullshitting once you've had time to think of a story."

Rumia smiled at her. It was not a nice smile. "Oh, don't be like that," she said as she picked her nails with the point of her sword. "Whatever you may think of me and my trustworthiness, I really do want to get the hell out of this freak show, and I need you two to do it. So trust my sense of self-preservation, even if you don't trust my word."

"Fair enough. But tell me something, Rumia. You say that you need us. That our essence or whatever is like the key you need to open the door out of this place. Okay, I can buy that. But, uh, why exactly do we need you?"

Rumia stopped cleaning the undersides of her fingernails. She looked at Kaguya out of the corner of her eye. "Hmmm, interesting question. It's true, this isn't my world, so I can't exactly contribute much to the actual opening of your subconscious. But we're not there yet, are we? So…"

She stuck her sword through her belt and shoved herself off the edge of the cliff. Rather than fall, she walked on empty air to stand before Kaguya. "If you think you can get there without my help, be my freaking guest," Rumia said as she folded her arms. "But from where I'm standing" she tilted her head toward the wandering velmick below her "you've got problems enough to waste time fighting me."

Kaguya glowered, but she nodded, conceding the point. "All right, you win. Just know that I'm keeping an eye on you."

"Yeah, you already said that. I haven't forgotten. Just as I haven't forgotten that we still have to dig your girlfriend out of that three-mile long piece of crap down there. So what say we postpone this dance until the current song ends?"

"All right, agreed," Kaguya said. She brought her legs up and stood. "So, what do you suggest we do about the worm?" she asked as she brushed off her backside.

"Good question. You're the one who's actually dreamed of these things. Anything we can use from your nighttime terrors?"

Kaguya snorted. "Yeah, right. I was just a kid. They all just had me running as fast I can while they followed me underground. Then they would come up beneath me and the next thing I'd know, I was in my room on a sweaty bed. Not a whole lot of…"

She fell silent. An idea had just popped in her head. It wasn't much of one, but it was there.

Rumia tilted her head to one side. "Excuse me? Hello?" she said as she waved a hand in front of Kaguya's face. "Not a whole lot of what?"

"Stop that," Kaguya said as she slapped Rumia's hand away. "And I think I've got an idea."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I think we're approaching this monster the wrong way."

Rumia sighed. "Kaguya, I don't know if you've been paying attention, but we really haven't been approaching that ugly bastard much at all. Mostly he's been approaching _us."_

"And I think that's part of the problem." Kaguya crouched down on one knee and peered down at the velmick. "We're thinking of him as this big old nightmare monster."

"That would be because he is one," Rumia said. She floated over to Kaguya's side. "You made him that way, remember?"

A slow smile spread over Kaguya's features, the kind she usually wore right before Mokou wandered into one of her traps. "Yeah, but who says we need to treat him like one? He's not real. He's just some random nonsense that my head spewed out. Why should he be calling the shots here?"

...

The contractions of the worm's throat had reduced Mokou into little more than a squishy paste, and she was still hadn't reached it stomach. The velmick was in possession of a very long throat.

...

The way Kaguya was now seeing things, this was a world that depended heavily on perception and expectations. And not just in the way of weird "I wasn't expecting that" randomness. Rather, as a world forged from her dreams, it was thus a world based around how she subconsciously viewed things. Take those sailors, for example. Though they had been from Mokou's mind, Kaguya had dispatched the captain with the expectation that killing him would destroy his crew. There had been no thought of experimentation, no "Let's see if this works". It had simply presented itself to her as logical, and as such she gave little thought to whether it would work or not. As such, it had.

The worm was another example. Indeed, the entirety of the Moon could be said to follow that law. She had expected the Moon to be a horrible place, and it delivered by immediately supplying a velmick. She had expected the velmick to be next to invincible, and thus far she had not been disappointed. That was how most nightmares worked, actually. Those horrible dreams of having let down everyone you know and care about, and feeling the crushing weight of their contempt? Those are spawned from a fear of failure, coupled with the expectation that everyone would be heavily disappointed when (not if, when) you fell. This remained truer the more primal you went. Children suffering under the hand of an abusive parent will often dream them as being much larger, much scarier, much more powerful than they actually are, rather than seeing their tormentors as the weak, pathetic things they actually are. Because that is how they perceive them. Likewise, monsters, especially the real ones, are magnified into forces of nature. Relentless, indestructible, inescapable. Their friend the flower-covered velmick and his immense size being a case in point.

Of course, there were exceptions. Kaguya was willing to bet that Mokou had not expected bounce off the Earth. And she had certainly not expected to lose her power of flight. Still, perhaps they had both expected the dream to interrupt their escape attempts somehow, and thus the dream had obliged.

The trick was to stop thinking of the nightmares as nightmares, to stop seeing the monsters as undefeatable. She had to stop seeing the velmick as what it was _supposed_ to be, and confront it as it actually was.

Now, Kaguya had never been much of a lucid dreamer. Her dreams tended to be quick replays of her many, many battles with Mokou, or uncomfortable representations of her poor feelings toward her place of birth (though recently she had started having a very enjoyable recurring dream starring herself, a certain bookwormish but still feisty student of witchcraft and wizardry and a talking hot tub, but that was entirely beside the point). Eirin had many drugs that assisted in the area of dream control, but she had never tried them for herself. Still, she was a quick study. And since Rin Satsuki had so graciously left her with her full consciousness intact, it was time to start putting what she had read into practical use.

And so, with no weapons aside from her natural magic (already proven ineffective), no allies save for a self-proclaimed lockbreaker-for-hire of extremely dubious trustworthiness, deprived of her ability to fly and with an indestructible engine of death to kill, Kaguya took a deep breath and stepped off the cliff.

As expected, gravity still worked just fine. However, as she fell, she thrust her right hand and right foot into the rock wall.

Her was peeled off in an instant. But rather than ignoring the pain, Kaguya confronted it. She closed her eyes, focused on the feeling of her flesh being sheared off, and thought, _this isn't real. There is no cliff, there is no stone, there is no pain. This is a dream. My body does not physically exist. I only feel pain because I expect it._

When she opened her eyes again, her foot and hand were digging through the cliff side and slowing her descent. Furthermore, they were completely unharmed.

A slow grin spread over her features. "Cool..." she whispered.

Even though she was still too high to fall freely and expect to land in one piece, Kaguya shoved off the cliff side let physics take their course. The petal-covered ground rushed up to meet her. She rolled onto her shoulder, somersaulting forward and hopping to her feet. Again, she was unhurt.

Kaguya felt downright giddy. Finally the inconsistent nature of this world's laws of reality were working in her favor. Pity it had taken her so long to figure them out. But hey, better late than never. Now, where was that…

The ground beneath her feet started to rumble. Kaguya turned to see the velmick charging toward her. A reflexive twinge of fear fluttered within her, but she quashed it. Giving in to panic was the absolute worse thing she could do now. Instead, she held her ground as the velmick leapt into the air and came down toward her, mouth spread open wide as it roared in triumph.

Burning crimson power flashed around her fist. She thrust it forward, releasing a fiery lance. It plunged right into the velmick's exposed throat, the only place not covered by its impenetrable hide.

Even though the worm's incredible speed, weight and velocity would had made changing direction in mid-air impossible, the laws of physics had only a tenuous hold in this world. The velmick lurched back in surprise as the energy ripped into its soft throat. It twisted around and came to a thunderous landing to Kaguya's left.

The Lunarian Princess was already moving, taking long-legged strides as she ran as best she could through the petals. "Rumia, it worked!" she called. "Grab me!"

Rumia, who had been waiting for her confirmation, swooped down to snatch Kaguya up and carry her above the battlefield. "It worked!" Kaguya gibed as they gained altitude. "Did you see that? It worked!"

"Congratulations," Rumia said dryly. "So can we kill that thing already?"

Kaguya grinned and nodded over her shoulder. She had it all figured out. Depriving the velmick of its status as a nightmare wasn't enough. They still had to remake it in their minds, to perceive as something they stood a chance of beating.

And as far as Kaguya was concerned, it was a large monster that had literally come out of nowhere. It was also a high-level adversary that was much more powerful than anything they had encountered thus far and would take all of their skill to defeat. Kaguya had labels to describe things such as that. Two of them, in fact. The first was Random Encounter. The second was Boss Fight. And it was just Kaguya's good fortune that she had considerable experience dealing with both.

One of the rules of boss fights is that there is always a weak spot. The velmick's was its mouth. Or more specifically, its throat. They just had to get it to open up so they could hurl something painful down its esophagus. After this they would run away to a safe position, get its attention again, and do it again. Wash, rinse, repeat as many times as it took. Against an actual velmick this strategy would be stupid and suicidal. Against this faux-velmick taken from the mind of a girl who had much more experience in how fictional monsters behaved than actual ones, it stood a good chance of succeeding.

Now granted, there were a few things working against them. Kaguya wasn't sure if her recent loss of flight was going to last the entire battle or not, but if that was the case, than it pretty much was a handicap run against a high-level boss. And the velmick was still all kinds of dangerous. But even low-powered as she was, Kaguya still had infinite lives and a regenerating health bar. And now that she had figured out how to "hack the game", she was going to exploit her newfound control for all it was worth. She just hoped that it wasn't worthless.

...

Mokou's body had reached the end of one journey, only to begin another. What remained of it slipped from the throat into the worm's stomach. Or rather, the first in a long line of stomachs.

...

After about five minutes of battling the velmick, Kaguya came to the conclusion that her newfound control over the dream environment was pretty damned worthless.

It was her own fault. She had forced herself to look at the fight as a handicapped run against a high-level boss. And while those were somewhat less impossible than facing off against an unstoppable monster dredged up from her deepest and oldest nightmares, she had forgotten one very important constant: handicapped runs against high-level bosses always ended in very messy failure during the first attempt.

And so she found herself half-running, half-stumbling through the calf-high carpet of petals, waving her hands and screaming as loud as she could, "The THROAT! Hit it in the THROAT, you IDIOT!"

Rumia, on whom the velmick had centered its attention, was once again barely staying one step ahead of its lunges and snaps. "I'm _trying," _she called as she launched several sharp red bullets. "This is harder than it-SHIT!-than it looks!"

Was it her imagination, or were the petals getting deeper? "I did it!" Kaguya called as her hopping jog became more of a wade.

"Good for freaking you!" Rumia screamed. "Do it again!"

Kaguya rolled her eyes and obliged, sending three pink spheres of liquid fire that streamed sparkling tails behind them. They splashed against the velmick's body but had no effect other than covering the point of impact with glitter.

"Don't you have _anything _besides danmaku?" Kaguya shouted.

"I came from a freaking _skeleton key_, not a-SHIT!"

The velmick came within inches of snatching her foot right off. She managed to twist out of the way, but at that exact moment the worm swung what passed for its head right at her. It slammed into her waist and sent her spinning wildly. She screamed the whole way, and though she wasn't sure, Kaguya was sure that the words "Oh, _fuck_ this!" appeared somewhere in her incoherent shriek.

At that moment, something pricked Kaguya's left foot. Given her almost superhuman tolerance for pain, she might not have even noticed, if it weren't for the feeling of deathly cold that spread around the puncture a moment later.

Kaguya gasped and stumbled. She fell onto her back and tried to lift up her foot to see. Maneuvering through the petals was awkward, but she managed to twist it around enough to see a strange black mark on her heel, about the size of a large coin. Bitter cold tingled all along its circumference while its interior had lost all feeling. It was not unlike a severe case of frostbite, but something told her that this was much more ominous.

A chill swept through her. Where in the world had _that _come from?

An inhuman scream drew her attention away from her foot. The velmick had reared nearly thirty feet into the air and was swaying back and forth. Something had happened to it. Instead of the usual predatory bellows, its cries were softening into moans of agony.

"What's going on? Is that normal?"

Kaguya sat up to see Rumia stumbling toward her. "What?" she asked.

Rumia pointed. "The worm, dimwit! Why's it doing that?"

Kaguya blinked at her. "You didn't do that?"

"No! I was too busy spinning like a damned shuriken to do anything! I thought you did it!"

"I…"

Then she fell silent. The velmick was doing something. It's groaning had softened to a sort of throaty rumble, and its head was squirming in a constant back-and-forth motion. A suture opened all around its body a few meters below the base of its mouth and a sickly pale green slime oozed out. And then it did something truly bizarre.

As of late, Kaguya had taken to purchasing Outside World toys and games in large quantities. Sometimes she had a specific item requested, other times she went for what amounted to goodie bags and hoped she would get lucky. In one such bag she had found a clever little device. It was a crayon, a children's coloring utensil. However, instead of being composed of a body and a point in one single color, this one was made of several points, each one a different color. These points were hollowed out and opened at the bottom, allowing them to be stacked up, forming a body and allowing the user to color with the topmost head. And should she ever desire to use a different color, all she had to do was pop the desired color out and transfer it to the top. Though Kaguya had long outgrown coloring pictures as a form of entertainment, she had still found the little thing amusing, and had admired its ingenuity.

And now, as she watched the velmick react to whatever had hurt it, she found herself suddenly reminded of that crayon. The velmick was literally pushing its head right off. And underneath was a second head, exactly like the first only covered with the pale green slime.

"Okay, I honestly can say I didn't see that coming," Rumia said as they both stared. "Can they do that?"

Kaguya swallowed. "This one can."

"But…why? Why is it even doing that?"

"I, uh, guess something ruined the old head. Are you sure it wasn't you?"

Rumia shot her a disgusted look and rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't give me that crap. Ten to one, it's Mokou giving it indigestion."

An interesting theory, Kaguya had to admit. If Mokou had indeed returned to life within the velmick's bowels, she would be capable of wreaking an unholy measure of punishment. But she did not have enough time to give the idea further consideration, as at that moment the velmick finished thrusting off its original head and let it fall. It landed in an eruption of lily petals and smashed right through the ground. Though Kaguya was far enough to avoid being crushed, it was still close enough for her to feel the shockwaves.

And it was then that Kaguya learned why the velmick had remained above ground. The floor beneath them was hollow.

The discarded head disappeared through the hole it had created. Lily petals followed it, pouring into the pit in a gentle cascade of white. While certainly interesting, it wasn't of immediate concern. Kaguya returned her attention to the velmick. Perhaps its new head's exoskeleton had yet to harden. If so, she could probably do some damage while it was still soft.

She started to call power to her hands, but then something shoved against her legs, nearly bowling her over. Kaguya staggered and tried to regain her footing. Her numb heel did her no favors in that regard, but she managed to remain upright long enough to see what the problem was.

What she saw made her moan. The hole had become a cause of immediate concern. The flower petals had not stopped pouring in. Quite the contrary, the cascade had only increase, and it was taking the rest of the sea of petals with it. The entire thing was now flowing toward the hole. And it was picking up speed and strength.

"The hell is this?" she shouted. "We're not on a slant!"

"Since when has anything in this world ever made sense?" Rumia shouted back. She wrapped her arms around Kaguya's waist and lifted them both above the current.

Kaguya watched the petals flow beneath her dangling feet. "You know, this all feels kind of symbolic."

"Is that so," Rumia grunted as she lifted her higher.

"Yeah. I'm not really read up on my dream interpretation, but aren't lilies supposed to represent-"

A long shadow fell on them both. The girls looked up to see the velmick rearing up over them.

Kaguya opened her mouth to say something. Perhaps it was going to be a curse. Perhaps it was going to be an observation on the velmick's own symbolism. Perhaps it was going to be some sort of smartass remark concerning their momentary lapse of awareness. But she never got past the parting of her lips, because that was when the velmick struck.

Rumia dropped Kaguya, sending her tumbling back into the white current. Kaguya gasped and surfaced just in time to see the worm slam into Rumia, driving her into the soft sea and driving her right through the crust beneath.

The space beneath was apparently bottomless, and the velmick was very, very long. Even after the head had gone through, the body continued to slide into its new hole. Kaguya tried to find some sort of support, some sort of handhold or base to guard her against the flow of flowers. If she could make her way over to the velmick's body, she could latch on and ride it on its journey beneath the faux-Moon's surface. From there, she could make her way toward its head and find some way to retrieve her companions. It was a long shot, but the alternative was spending eternity in Rin Satsuki's bizarre prison. As much as it galled her, she needed Mokou and Rumia. She wasn't getting out of here without them.

And then the current of petals surged up in strength. Kaguya was shoved onto her back. She tried swimming, but that worked as well as one might expect. She tried digging her fingers into the dust beneath, but it was now too deep for her to get a grip. She even tried to fly, out of the desperate hope that her abilities had been returned to her. But that way was still denied to her.

Kaguya bared her teeth. No. She refused to allow herself to be helpless. This wasn't going to beat her. She had just faced down a velmick, a monster snatched from her deepest and oldest nightmares. She had taken on the Zerg. She had faced her own death on a near constant basis. She had stared down the ruling body of the Lunarian, looked her father the Emperor in the eyes, and had openly defied them all. No way was she going to be defeated by a bunch of flowers. No way was she going to let them beat her. She was not going to let them win.

The forced pushing against her doubled in strength. It was almost indistinguishable from the undertow of the sea now. And it swept Kaguya along, down the cascade and into the void beyond.

...

Mokou briefly came back to life while passing through one of the velmick's many stomachs. She noted that she was swimming through acid, which irritated her. After a rather unfortunate incident about seventy or so years ago that ended up killing both she and Kaguya multiple times in succession, they had agreed that the use of acid was unsportsmanlike and there would be banned from their ritualistic cycle of mutual murder and rebirth. But of course, Kaguya was going back on her word. The next time she got her hands on the Moonbitch, she was going to make her die very, very slowly. In stages.

And she recollected enough of recent events to think, _Oh, wait. That worm. I guess I'm still in his-_

The velmick's digestive system contracted, squeezing her body into the next stomach and sending her mind spiraling into oblivion.

...

Is this what dying feels like?

Wait, what?

…_falling…falling through darkness. _

Who said that? Kaguya looked around but could see no source for the voice. It was certainly correct, as she was still tumbling through emptiness, surrounded by a circular wall of cascading lily petals, but that didn't account for the voice's presence in the first place.

_Eyes opened or closed, it's all the same._

"Hello?" Kaguya called. It sounded like a child. And it was coming from all around.

_I guess I should be happy. I _like_ darkness. Darkness is my element, my comfort. But it's never felt so cold, so empty._

Kaguya twisted her body around but still saw no one. "Well, sucks to be you!" she shouted. "Why don't you just go find a dark corner and stop talking?"

_This _must_ be what dying feels like. _

"No, no it's not! There's usually a lot more red involved!"

_Endlessly falling through darkness. I may like darkness, but I don't want to be stuck in it by myself. I don't want to be alone forever!_

"Then go get make friends with some bats and leave me alone!"

_Falling through…wait. Something's not right. There's something out there. There's something…no, _someone_ nearby._

"Yes, there is!" Kaguya shouted. "It's me! Kaguya Houraisan! Hi, nice to meet you. Now, how about you stop playing with the loudspeakers and get me out of here before I pancake all over the floor?"

_I am not alone._

"No, no you're not. Hello, can you hear me?" Kaguya waved frantically. "Are you on the other side of this flowerfall? Or are you just some annoying recording played to mess with…"

At that moment she happened to glance down. Her eyes widened when she saw the huge white mound rushing up to meet her.

"…oh, this is going to suck-"

She hit, but not with the bone-crushing impact that she had been expecting. In fact, she was barely hurt at all. Kaguya shook her head and sat up to see the reason why. She was sitting in what amounted to a soft crater of white petals. The rain of lilies still came down all around her, piling the walls high.

Kaguya looked up. If she squinted, she could barely make out the night sky.

"So much for being bottomless," she muttered as she staggered to her feet. Finding her footing among the petals was difficult, but she managed to stumble her way up the crater's walls, through the cascade and slide down the side of the hill that was forming. Her feet met the cold, smooth stone of the floor and she stood.

On the plus side, there was no sign of the velmick. But then, there was not much else either. Kaguya stood in a wide open space. There was no light source, so if there was something lurking in the shadows, she was unable to see it. However, the falling petals and the mound they were forming remained perfectly visible, a downpour of purest white that stood out sharply against the blackness all around.

"Hello?" she called out again. "Little scared falling girl? You there?"

No answer, but then, Kaguya wasn't expecting one. And come to think of it, drawing attention to herself probably wasn't the best idea. She looked down at her hands and saw that she could still see her body as well, almost as if she were giving off her own light. This gave her no comfort at all, as it would only make it easier for a predator to pick her off.

_There's always a monster in the shadows,_ she heard Rumia's voice say in her mind. _In dreams this is taken literally. _The thought made her shiver.

She cast a glance to the softly falling petals behind her. Perhaps she would be better off staying in place. If there was any place that operated on metaphor, it was here. Perhaps the white hill represented a sort of sanctuary in the darkness, a safe place to hide while she plotted her next step. The falling lily petals would hide her from view, and the pile was plenty high enough to burrow in for added concealment. It was admittedly a rather childish means of protection, but given where she was…

Then her heart leapt into her throat when she remembered exactly what had created the hole that had led her here in the first place. The velmick's discarded head was likely buried somewhere in that pile. Suddenly it didn't seem so safe after all. In real life, the smell of it would draw predators. Here, it was just as likely to come back to life and attack her on her own.

She turned back to the blackness. Okay, so she would have to take her chances. Fortunately, she was more than capable of handling herself. And she was not without resources. Though she had lost her allies, weapons and flight, all of her other abilities still worked. She could still fight. And fortunately, they had other uses as well.

Kaguya held out her right hand and focused her will on her hand. Tiny yellow sparks rose up from her palm like fireflies. They drew in close, collecting together and increasing in density. Kaguya continued to generate the sparks until they had formed a brightly shining sphere of light. Once she had judged that it was complete, she threw it in the air. It stopped about five feet above her head and hovered. There. Now at least she wouldn't be exploring blind.

Moving slowly at first, Kaguya walked away from the white hill. When nothing jumped out of the darkness to attack her, she increased her pace, eventually reaching a swift jog. All the while, her makeshift light kept pace with her every step of the way.

However, there seemed to be nothing to find. The fall of petals quickly receded into the distance, until it appeared to be nothing more than a faraway white line. But still, nothing appeared out of the darkness to confront her. The sphere's illumination reflected off the smooth stone floor, so she knew she wasn't walking on a void, but she might as well be.

As she ran, Kaguya happened to glance to her right. She started to turn her attention back to her path but quickly did a double-take. Even through the light of the sphere, she could have sworn she saw a fleeting flash of red.

Kaguya slowed to a stop and squinted. Had she imagined it? It was certainly possible. For one, she couldn't see anything now, but that didn't not prove that it had never been there. She dimmed the light overhead, but that failed to reproduce that brief glimpse of crimson.

Kaguya shifted her weight from one leg to the other. Her right foot lifted to scratch the back of her left calf. She waited. Nothing happened.

Well, one direction was as good as another. Kaguya took a deep breath and headed toward where she thought she had seen the red light. She was reasonably sure what it was, at least. Though she couldn't be positive, it did look like the flash of a youkai's eyes.

That in itself would be adequate reason to keep her distance. But as Rumia had red eyes and she had also been driven into this space, there was a good chance that it was her. And seeing how the youkai girl was her only ally that (as far as she knew) hadn't been swallowed by a worm, it was in her best interests to seek her out. If nothing else, Kaguya felt more comfortable having Rumia someplace where she could keep an eye on her rather than let her skulk around in the darkness.

Then again, Rumia had been driven down here courtesy of the velmick. Kaguya hesitated, slowing again to a stop. If Rumia was around, there was a good chance that monstrous thing was as well. But on the other hand, it wasn't exactly known for its subtlety. If the velmick was still around, she would have known by now.

There! Another brief flash of a ruby pinpoint, moving swiftly through the darkness. It was there only for a moment, less than a second, but it had definitely been there.

"Rumia?" Kaguya called in a loud whisper. "That you?"

In keeping with recent tradition, there was no answer. Kaguya moved closer, but with caution. She was aware that she was playing the part of the dumb girl who always wanders alone through the darkness asking if anyone was there only to have the killer divide her torso into three pieces, but what choice did she have? "Rumia?" she hissed. "Or slasher-killer guy? Giant worm? Ghost from my past? Come on, let's stop screwing around and cut right to-"

The light from the sphere fell upon something large. She came short and gasped.

It was the velmick's head, the one that had been discarded. It was lying right in front of her, unmoving and lifeless. But how was that possible? By rights it should have been in that pile of petals. There was no way it could have bounced, rolled or otherwise traveled so far from where it had smashed through the crust of the Moon. Even with dream logic in the play, this was a stretch.

Kaguya carefully approached the disgusting thing. It did not react to her approach. The Lunarian Princess drew in close and inspected it. There was something wrong, beyond the fact that it was a dead velmick head. Even in death, the thing's hide should have retained its stone-like exterior. But now, its flesh was black and shriveled. In fact, the whole thing looked like it had shrunk. She reached out and poked one of the mandibles with one finger. Its carapace cracked under her touch.

Now _that _was interesting.

She walked around the thing, inspecting it from all sides. The whole thing looked desiccated. But what could have done this? Rumia? Possible, but unlikely. If she had been capable of something like this, why hadn't she done it before, when the velmick had first attacked them? Or on the Zerg, for that matter. Mokou, perhaps? That was a more likely explanation.

Kaguya turned away from the lump of dead worm flesh as she puzzled over this new enigma. Then her heart leapt. There was a _second _velmick head about seven feet away, in the same shape as the first.

Her heart beating loudly, Kaguya glanced from one head to the next. As far as she could tell, they were the same. Her eyes flicked up, toward her little ball of light. At her command, it gained another ten feet and the light it cast increased by a fivefold.

It was as she expected. Shriveled velmick heads lay all around. There had to be at least seven of them in all.

Kaguya had no idea how to react to this bizarre mausoleum she had found herself in. On the one hand, she was surrounded by dead velmick heads. That was all kinds of creepy, and given her surroundings, it was just a twitching mandible away from becoming a nightmare. On the other hand, she was surrounded by dead velmick heads. There was something encouraging about the sight, despite the horror it gave her. It meant the thing could be killed after all, even if it had to be done in stages. Though she shuddered to think of what kind of power it would take to do something like-

"Are you _insane?_ Turn the light off, you twit!"

Kaguya turned. Rumia was there, limping into view from behind one of the heads. Kaguya wasn't sure if she was surprised to see the lockbreaker-for-hire or not. Her presence here wasn't unlikely, but the fact that she was still in one piece was. By rights, she should have been torn in half, if not swallowed entirely.

Then again, from the look of things she hadn't exactly fared well. Her right leg was covered with blood, and it had been twisted at an odd angle. She held onto her thigh with one hand and dragged it behind her as she made her way toward Kaguya. However, despite the incredible pain she must have been in, she looked more angry than anything. She held her sword in one hand and Mokou's sword in the other. The light from Kaguya's sphere reflected on the gold and gems in the hilt and the silvery metal of the blade, making Mokou's weapon seem dull by comparison.

"Put the damned light out already!" she snarled as she staggered toward Kaguya. She thrust both blades back into her makeshift belt. "You wanna let every nightmare around know where we are?"

Kaguya shrugged. "Good to see you too, Rumia." She held up her hand. Her tiny sun was sucked into her palm and the world fell to shadows once again. Rumia's eyes were still visible though, glowering at her from the dark.

"You're glowing," Rumia seethed. "Still not good. Stop it."

"Can't," Kaguya responded. "I don't even know how it happened."

"Are you serious?"

Kaguya felt a flash of irritation. "No, Rumia," she said. "I lit my body up like a freaking glowstick and deliberately put myself in danger of attracting the attention of any nasty creepy crawly around, just to annoy you."

"Fine, fine," Rumia said in exasperation. "At least get behind one of these things, out of sight."

Kaguya complied, crouching down next to one of the velmick heads. "And just so we're clear," she said. "You do know that the velmick are blind, yeah? We could light this whole place up like it was Christmas and it wouldn't make a difference.

Rumia growled in pain as she carefully maneuvered herself down so that she was sitting next to the Lunarian Princess. "Sure," she grunted as she stretched out her mangled leg in front of her. "That's assuming that the carnivorous phallic symbol is the only nasty around. I'd rather we don't take chances. And keep your voice down."

"You seem to be doing okay for yourself," Kaguya whispered. She tapped the velmick head behind her with her knuckles, crunching its hide in the process. "How in the hell did you pull this off?"

Rumia snorted in disgust. "I wish I was capable of something like this. Naw, after it drove me through the ground, it managed to grab my leg in those pincer jaws of its and almost damned near tore it right off. But then it let me go and started coughing. At first I figured it just didn't like the taste of me, which is both a relief and kind of insulting at the same time, but then its head shriveled up and fell right off, just like the first one did. Then the next head did the same, and the one after that. By then my leg meant I was going down one way or another, so I followed the head down and took cover until they stopped falling. The velmick disappeared soon after that."

"Wait, it disappeared?" Kaguya asked. "Really? How could something that big just disappear?"

Rumia didn't answer. The crimson lights of her eyes simply glanced at her and rolled around as she looked away.

"Okay, so it was a dumb question," Kaguya admitted. "So you have no idea what's been killing the velmick's heads?"

"Personally I figure it's Mokou," Rumia said. "We have no idea what happened to her after she got swallowed. She's probably resurrected by now and causing all kinds of internal injuries."

"Maybe," Kaguya said. Her eyes narrowed. "Or maybe there's something you're not telling me."

"Oh, good gods," Rumia muttered. "Again with the…You know what? You're right. You're absolutely right. Maybe there is something I'm not telling you. Maybe I've been lying through my teeth this whole time, and it was actually me that got you stuck here. I'm really an evil subconciomancer in disguise. And now I'm traveling around with you guys while spinning some bullshit story about that Satsuki kid of yours, just for kicks. Except no, that would be stupid. Give it a rest, your Highness. Either prove that I'm planning to betray you or shut up. Because otherwise we won't get _anything _done with you questioning me at every step of the way."

"Don't call me that," Kaguya muttered, but she had to admit Rumia again had a point. Whatever her misgivings might be, this was not the time to act on them. "So what now?"

Rumia's eyes turned to look at her again. "I thought you had appointed yourself team leader," she said, her voice laced with amusement. "Why are you asking me, oh captain my captain?"

"I lost my hat and my boat," Kaguya muttered. The memory of it put her in a dark mood. "And my handicapped boss run idea went down like a shriveled velmick head. It's your turn to think of the next idea."

Her unseen companion let out a low, hissing laugh which, given the darkness, was rather unsettling. "All right then. First order of business is we find that bloody worm and pull our surly firestarter of a companion out of it. Her being gone may make things a lot less stressful, but we still need her if we're ever going to get out of here."

"Point. Annoying, but still, point. All right then, let's get…" The rest of the sentence trailed to a stop. Something had just occurred to her. She let out a groan and slumped back again the velmick's carapace.

"What's up?" Rumia asked.

Kaguya rolled her eyes and sighed. "I just realized that I'm about to hunt down a freaking velmick to save Fujiwara no Mokou."

"And that's somehow more insane than anything else that's happened so far?"

"Kind of, yeah," Kaguya responded. "I can take the whole journey through the dream world thing. That's just an occupational hazard for living in Gensokyo. But this? This is beyond ridiculous. If someone had told me that I would be doing something like this a week ago, I would have kicked their ass for wasting my time with crazy talk."

That actually got a laugh from Rumia, a much less creepy one this time. "Get used to it, Kaguya," she said. "And if it makes you feel better, just think of it as protecting your rights as Mokou's official executioner. Now help me up."

"Say please."

There was a pause, and then Rumia said, "Really? Really Kaguya, really?"

A nasty smile spread across Kaguya's face. "Just because I hate it when people call me 'Your Highness' all sarcastic like doesn't mean I'm still not royalty. I'm willing to follow your lead for now, but don't think I'm going to let you forget who's the random youkai girl and who's the official leader of one of Gensokyo's biggest territories. So yes. Say please."

The red lights of Rumia's stared at her in disbelief. They then turned away from her and slowly went out as Rumia's eyelids squeezed together. "Oh, out of all the _stupidest, _self-important, egotistical things to…" She took in a deep, pain-filled breath and slowly let it out. "All right, your royal insufferableness. Would you _kindly _assist your wounded companion to her feet, as she is incapable of rising under her own power?" The shadows shifted as Rumia held out her hand. _"Please?"_

"Oh, get over yourself," Kaguya said as she grabbed Rumia's hand and stood, pulling Rumia to her feet. "Believe it or no, I am kind of important. Play nice, and you'll find that you've made yourself a powerful friend."

"What, getting my leg a torn up on your orders wasn't enough?" Rumia said with a derisive snort.

"Yeah, and what about that, anyway?" Kaguya asked. The light from her personal illumination didn't reach far enough to let her see Rumia in full detail, but even with just the silhouette she could tell that Rumia wasn't going to go anywhere very quickly. "Can you even travel?"

"Don't worry about me," Rumia growled. "I may not be a super healing freak like you guys, but I'm still a high-level youkai. I'll be better in no time."

Kaguya pointed her fingers at where she judged Rumia's forehead to be. "Maybe I should just blast you right now," she said. "Let you do that whole youkai resurrection thing and save us time."

"No!" Rumia shouted. She jerked back. Unfortunately the sudden action caused her bad leg to twist under her and she fell to her butt with a gasp of pain. But the fall didn't prevent her from shoving herself back with her hands and good leg. "Keep your godsdamned hands away from me!"

"Okay, okay!" Kaguya said, holding her palms up. "Chill out, all right? I was just trying to help."

"I don't _need _that kind of help, thanks," Rumia grunted. There was a crinkling sound as she grasped the nearby velmick head and used it to lever herself back up. "Oh, gods that hurts," she complained as she managed to get her good leg up. "And what are you thinking? I'm a trespasser, remember? This dream has it in for me. Do you really want to trust it with my life essence?"

"All right, I get it," Kaguya said. "Sorry."

"Just keep the bad ideas to yourself and we'll get along better. Now, hold still." Rumia hobbled over to Kaguya and grabbed her by the shoulder.

Kaguya started to pull back. "What are you-"

"Get over it, your worshipfulness. It was your idea that got me in this condition. So you're just going to have to put up with being my crutch while I act as your eyes." The eyes in question turned away from her and focused on the way ahead of them. "All righty then, that way. And watch out for worm heads."

...

When Mokou again regained consciousness, she had left the series of stomachs and was now entering the worm's intestines. Given that, by this point, most food matter would have already been broken down fully, there was little to interrupt her regeneration. Just a lot of squeezing. As such, when she awoke to find her mangled body being forced through a space that was tight, slimy and absolutely disgusting, she was quite put out.

Very, very put out.

...

"So, what do you think?" Kaguya asked. She placed a hand against the flat, smooth surface of the wall in front of them.

"I'm thinking that a ladder or a staircase would sound really great right now," Rumia said. She limped her way down the wall's length, her fingers feeling for some kind of break. "Or a door. A door would be nice. I can deal with a door."

Kaguya and Rumia's journey through the dark had been uneventful. Despite the indignity of having to support Rumia's shuffling body, she counted herself lucky that she had to suffer little more than that. And at least Rumia had been correct about her own recuperative abilities. As they had walked, her leg had healed itself and she was able to support more and more of her weight.

However, they had still found nothing. No surprises, either positive or negative, had presented themselves. Kaguya had even lost her patience on two occasions and brought back her miniature sun just to check to see if Rumia was simply hiding the truth about the emptiness of their surroundings. As it turned out, she was not, and the second offense got her whacked upside the head. She had returned the favor by kicking Rumia's leg out from under her and storming off by herself. It had been a full ten minutes before her common sense got the better of her and she had reluctantly returned. Their trip had become even more awkward after that.

But then they had come across the wall and all thoughts of personal grievances went out of their minds. Rumia even agreed to let Kaguya light up her portable sun so as to get a good look at the thing. It was huge, stretching into infinity in all directions. And if from the look of things, it was either seamless or made from some incredibly large stones.

However, Kaguya was less impressed with its size and more concerned of what they were supposed to do now. If the wall encompassed the entire space, then it didn't matter how big the room was, it was still a cage. And getting stuck together with no one but each other for company (MIA velmick notwithstanding) was not something either of them wanted. Of course, they could always just wait for Rumia's leg to heal, make their way back to one of the openings in the roof and have her fly them out, but that was a solution that was better left until they had exhausted all other options. And they still had to find Mokou.

"Still, credit where credit's due," Rumia said as she continued her inspection.

"Eh?"

Rumia tapped her knuckles against the wall's smooth surface. "I know it's not real, but this is some fantastic craftsmanship. Completely flawless. I haven't seen its like in Gensokyo. Is this from your mind, by any chance? Something from the Lunarian capital, perhaps?"

Kaguya frowned. "No, they're not much for plain walls there."

"Pity. People so often forget the beauty in silent simplicity. You know, it's always the more complicated locks that are the easiest to break, while some of the…Hang on." Rumia bent over and moved in so close that her nose was practically shoved up against the object of her admiration. "Hello, I do believe I've found something."

Kaguya's ears perked up. "You did?" she said as she walked over. "What?"

"A seam," Rumia said, pointing at the almost invisible line. "You can barely see it, but it's there. It's a pretty fine one too. And…" her finger slowly moved up, following the line's path. But instead of continuing up out of sight, it angled sharply to the left at a point about eight feet from the ground. From there, it continued for another five feet before turning again back towards the floor, forming a right-angled arch. "My dear royalty, I do believe we've found ourselves a door."

"A door?" Kaguya said with a frown. "What makes you so sure?"

Rumia gave the rectangle a soft push. It swung inward, revealing a rough stone tunnel. "Oh, it's just this hunch I have."

"Smartass," Kaguya said, though with a hint of admiration. "You think that's where the velmick went?"

Rumia shot her one of her increasingly familiar looks of disdain. "Right. Because giant worms are so known for their politeness that they always close the door behind them. Especially when through a tunnel too small for them."

Kaguya resisted the urge to kick her leg again. "They're not known for growing flowers all over their bodies, having replaceable heads and disappearing without a trace either," she snapped. "Nothing makes sense here, remember?"

"A fair point," Rumia conceded. "We'd better proceed with caution anyway. Even if tall, round and hungry isn't in here, there still-"

"Waitaminute," Kaguya interrupted. She crouched down and picked up something off the tunnel floor. "What is this doing here?"

It was a book. A small paperback with a worn cover and frayed ears. Kaguya's eyes widened when she recognized it. She turned it over in her hands, revealing the title.

"_Voyage of the Dawn Treader?" _Rumia said as she looked over Kaguya's shoulder. "What?"

"It's one of mine," Kaguya said. She ran her hand over the familiar cover, feeling mystified by its sudden presence. "From back home. But what could it be doing here?"

"What is anything doing here? Open it. Maybe it can tell us something useful."

Kaguya did, but while the cover was familiar, the story inside was not.

"It's rubbish," she said, tossing it aside in disgust. "Most of those characters don't even appear in that book, and I'm pretty sure Aslan never had sex with the White Queen."

Something else caught her eye, a little further in. She ran over and picked it up a painted cardboard box.

"Warhammer 40K?" Kaguya said in wonderment. She gave the box a small shake, rattling the miniatures inside. "Why is all my stuff in here?"

She dropped the box and moved in deeper. Strewn all throughout the tunnel were more and more of her belongings. A book here. A game there. Her Slytherin scarf (which she snatched up immediately and wrapped around her neck). An action figure, a poster, a LEGO set, several manga volumes, DVDS, a Gameboy Advance. The further she went in, the more of her Outside World toys she found. Soon she was finding trinkets that she in fact did not possess, and more than likely did not actually exist _(When Cicadas Cry _Monopoly? If only she could bring that with her) but did not look out of place mixed in with all of stuff she was finding.

Despite the severity of the situation, Kaguya felt herself growing excited. Sure, none of this stuff actually existed, and would do her little good, but fantasy or not, it was still a treasure trove. And while the books and manga were pretty unintelligible, she still was seeing some pretty sweet toys.

A strange urge started to come over her. She wanted to drop the quest right here and now, get on her knees and start playing with the toys. To have that Anti-Form Sora square off against Phoenix Wright. And then they'll resolve their differences and team up against Arthas, who had been infecting the kingdom of Hyrule with his plague. And then they'll find out that Darth Revan was behind everything the whole time and strike off to find his headquarters in the heart of the Tomb of Horrors, only to find that he had hired Hulk Hogan and the Ringwraiths to stop them and-

"Kaguya," Rumia said. "Hey. You okay?"

"…huh?"

Rumia snapped her fingers in front of Kaguya's face, breaking her from her reverie. "Hey! Wake up! You're starting to drool."

Kaguya scowled and quickly turned away. "No, I wasn't," she said, though she still quickly wiped her chin.

Rumia laughed. "So, all this junk is your stuff, huh?" She reached down and picked up a miniature Samus Aran. "Aren't you a little old to be playing with these?"

"Hey," Kaguya growled as she snatched the tiny bounty hunter out of Rumia's hands. "Watch it. And I'm literally in the top ten percent of the eldest beings in Gensokyo. _I _decide what's age appropriate for me, not you. Got it?"

Smirking, Rumia held up her hands and took a shuffling step back. "Okay, okay. Whatever you say." She eyed the paraphernalia lying all around. "Just don't tell me that you still sleep with stuffed animals."

"No, I don't," Kaguya snapped. She omitted the part that the only reason she didn't was because she didn't want to risk any cotton filled sleeping companions getting caught in the crossfire should Mokou attempt a midnight assassination. "But you are going to drop this conversation, or so help me, I am going to introduce you to a day of Mokou's daily life. Am I understood?"

Rumia nodded to indicate that she was, though the smirk didn't leave her face. Kaguya considered pressing the issue, though it didn't seem like it was worth it. But she did find herself looking forward to her eventual escape from Satsuki's mind-trap, if for no other reason than she wouldn't have to put up with Rumia's undue arrogance.

Then something caught her eye. She knelt down and picked it up.

"Huh," she said as she turned it in her fingers. It was her crayon, the one made up of multiple caps of different colors. She smiled.

"What's that?" Rumia asked as she leaned in closer.

"Oh, nothing," Kaguya said. "Just a coloring utensil. But I was thinking about it earlier, so it's kind of…"

The topmost cap popped off and fell to her feet.

"…uh, okay. Pretty sure it's not supposed to do that on its own."

The next seven caps immediately followed suit, popping off right after another. Kaguya and Rumia watched as they landed on the rough stone floor. An icy chill swept through Kaguya's spine. The caps were now changing, going from their original colors to pitch black.

The crayon twitched in her grasp. It started shaking, vibrating hard. Kaguya dropped it. It bounced once and lay still. Then it squirmed and twisted. The colors of its body ran together, forming a dull grey. Tiny white flowers sprouted all over it. It grew rapidly, shooting from about six inches in length to three feet in less than a second. And it only increased from there.

"Shit," Kaguya hissed. Blue energy surged down her arms as she lifted them over her head, ready to strike the thing down while it was still manageable.

"Wait!" Rumia said. She grabbed Kaguya by the wrist, cancelling the attack. "Mokou's still in that thing!"

"What? In that? How would she even _fit?_ It's like the size of…"

The velmick's body now filled half the tunnel. Its mandibles spread as wide as they could and it bellowed at them.

"…never mind, run!" Kaguya screamed.

The two of them fled down the tunnel as quickly as they could, stepping over an ever-growing collection of games, books, toys and similar merchandise. Behind them, the velmick pursued, roaring as it slithered after them, its size all the while.

"I _hate _that thing!" Rumia gasped as she stumbled her way through the tunnel. Though her leg had healed enough to allow her to run, it still pained her. "I hate it!"

"I know!" Kaguya snapped. "Shut up and-"

Her bare heel fell upon the upraised cleaver of a die-cast Rena Ryuugu and was pierced by the tiny blade. Though the pain was far from noticeable, the shift in balance still made her stumble. It wasn't much. She was back on her feet and accelerating in less than a second. But it was enough.

The velmick lunged forward and seized Kaguya's lower body. She cried out as its mandibles closed around her waist, crushing her pelvis.

"Rumia!" she screamed. "Help!"

The lockbreaker looked over her shoulder and her face paled. She ran back and grabbed Kaguya's outstretched hands and pulled. The velmick, sensing the challenge, squirmed and pulled back.

Kaguya learned something in that moment. Rumia was a lot stronger than she appeared. Strong enough so that Kaguya's hands were not torn right out of her grasp. As such, she found herself in the center of a tug-of-war between a mysterious and likely untrustworthy youkai and a giant worm. As the proverbial rope in their contest of strength, Kaguya found herself drowning in enough agony to overwhelm her superhuman pain tolerance. She screamed as her joints popped and stretched and her vision was drenched in crimson…

And suddenly, she was free. Kaguya flew forward, out of the velmick's grasp and into Rumia's. "All right, let's go!" Rumia shouted as she threw Kaguya over her shoulder and ran. Kaguya didn't answer. She _couldn't _answer. She could only stare as the velmick tried to thrust its body to swallow both of them. But its body was now too big. It had to crush the tunnel walls outward to gain any ground.

Then her eyes moved away from the velmick and focused on her own body. She was now much lighter than she had been, owing to the fact that everything below her navel was gone.

...

Fire generally needed three things in order to ignite. Heat, oxygen and fuel. Deep within the velmick's bowels, only heat was to be found, and given the humidity it was going to be no help at all.

That wasn't a problem, though. Mokou's abilities weren't dependent on chemical reactions. They were dependent on her desire to burn things. And at that moment, she wanted to burn the whole bloody worm until it was indistinguishable from the dust it swam through.

...

The velmick was almost upon them. Its size prevented it from moving smoothly, but when it did move, it covered a lot of ground. Rumia kept running on, putting as much distance between the two of them and the worm as possible.

"You doing okay?" she managed to gasp to her crippled passenger. "You even alive?"

Kaguya was, but she was in no shape to respond. She just stared as the velmick tore up the stone passage in its mad drive to consume them. Her legs were taking their time in returning. Maybe she would get lucky and the blood loss would kill her before the velmick swallowed the rest of her. Then she could ride out the journey of digestion in the peace of death, and not awaken until she had been shat back out. Disgusting, but waking up in worm dung was far preferable to some of the alternatives.

Then Kaguya's eyes widened as they registered something strange enough to break through the pain-induced haze that had enveloped her mind. "Hey!" she croaked. She tugged on Rumia's back. "Look!"

"Are you insane?" Rumia shouted at her. "There's no time for that!" But she did spare a glance over her shoulder. The sight was enough to make her stop and turn around and stare.

The velmick had stopped pursuing them. From the look of things, it was in great pain. Though its size prevented much in the way of movement, its head was still lolling back and forth. It was moaning, filling the cramped space with the sound of its agony.

Then its throat opened and it let out a loud belch. Kaguya's nose wrinkled as she was assailed with the stench of rotting fish mixed with fertilizer. The velmick belched again. This time, smoke curled accompanied the smell.

And then the giant worm burst into flames. Fire exploded out of its throat as crimson cracks burst out all over its hide. Rumia skittered back, driven away by the heat. The velmick's moans turned into a screaming wail as it burned.

Smoke filled the tunnel, stinging Kaguya's eyes and making her already labored breathing even more difficult. Even so, she felt more irritation than anything. _Great, _she thought. _She is never going to let me forget this._

Almost as if her internal lamentations had summoned it up, a humanoid figure appeared within the inferno. Hands in her pockets, Mokou strode out of the flames, untouched by their heat and heedless of the choking smoke that surrounded them. She looked at the legless Kaguya slung over the Rumia's shoulder and smirked.

"Hey there," she said. "You guys miss me?"

Kaguya found herself in the strange state of wanting to kill Mokou, but for reasons completely unrelated to their rivalry. She just wanted to blast that infuriating smile off of her face.

"Mokou," Rumia greeted calmly. "Impeccable timing. And my full compliments on your entrance." She yanked out her borrowed blade and held it out, hilt-first. "Here, I believe this belongs to you."

Mokou's eyebrows rose. She took the sword and nodded her thanks.

"Well then," she said as she put it away. "You guys wanna tell me what the hell happened to you?"

...

As excruciating as Mokou's trip through the velmick's digestion track had been, it was almost worth for being given the opportunity to burn her way back out and find an injured Rumia lugging around half of Kaguya, both of them mere moments away from being devoured themselves if it weren't for Mokou's intervention. Almost.

Unfortunately, a smoke-filled tunnel shared with the burning worm in question was not the place to bring each other up to speed, so after collapsing the tunnel between them and the velmick, they continued on in silence until the air had cleared enough for them to talk.

Of course, it was Rumia who had done most of the talking. Kaguya was in no state to explain anything, and Mokou's contribution hadn't been much more than "I got digested for awhile. It hurt like hell. But then it stopped and I starting setting things on fire".

"So just so we're clear," Mokou said as they walked. "You two were planning on saving me, right?"

"Of course," Rumia said. "Personal feelings aside, you're still necessary for our escape. There was just the problem of how. That thing was kind of hard to hurt from the outside."

"No kidding," Mokou said as she studied her delimbed rival. "That worm must have been some kind of surgeon to make such a clean cut."

Rumia coughed. "Actually, that was me."

Until that moment, Kaguya's head had been listing back and forth. But at Rumia's words, it slowly rose and turned to stare at her. "Y-you c-c-cut me in h-half? _You?"_ Kaguya choked out.

Rumia shrugged her free shoulder. "Hey, you were about three seconds away from having your arms torn off at the roots. I had to free you _somehow." _She pulled out her silver sword and held it up. The blade was crusted with drying blood. "At least my way you would have less healing to do."

"Smart thinking," Mokou approved. She leaned to one side, staring into Kaguya's open torso. "Though how come she hasn't started regenerating yet?"

"I, uh, really have no idea," Rumia admitted. "Her healing factor was working fine earlier. Maybe it has to do with that whole me being a trespasser thing?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"This isn't my real body, remember?" Rumia said. "It's something that my dream world put together, just like the bodies you two are wearing were put together by this place. So maybe the, I don't know, frequency is different or something. Like, getting injured by something from another dream world screws things up."

"Clash of conflicting energies?" Mokou tapped her lower lip as she thought about that. "Yeah, I can see it. Does this mean we're going to have to lug her ass around for the rest of the trip?"

"If so, you're taking your turn in about five minutes."

"Done."

"No!" Kaguya croaked out. She wrapped her arms around Rumia's torso and clung as tight as she could. "D-d-don't l-let h-her tou-touch me!"

"Aw, what's the matter, Kaguya?" Mokou taunted. "We all have to pull our fair share. And if that means carrying you in your time of need, I will gladly shoulder that burden."

"K-keep away fr-from me!"

"Knock it off, you too," Rumia said wearily. "I said carry her, not kill her."

"Who ever said anything about killing?" Mokou grinned.

"I swear, if I'm stuck here with you two for another hour, I'm going to go three shades of homicidal myself," Rumia muttered. She kicked aside a board game, popping the box open and spilling the contents. "Forget the bloated bugs and the freaky terrain, you guys are more nightmare than I can handle."

"Thanks," Mokou said. "But don't think compliments will make me like you any better."

Rumia just rolled her eyes and quickened her step. But then she stopped, her brow creasing in a frown.

"Hey, check it out," she said, gesturing with her bloody sword. "I think we've reached the end."

They had indeed. The tunnel opened up into a cave the size of medium-sized room. Here Kaguya's toys and trinkets were the thickest, covering the entirety of the ground and then some. Furniture had been added to the mix: a richly appointed double-bed with purple covers, a set of drawers carved from expensive wood, several bookcases crammed with even more Outside World novels and a cabinet decorated with tiny figurines and showcasing a television and several gaming machines. An electric lamp in the form of a mechanical man sat on the dresser, illuminating the room. The stone walls were covered with posters, tapestries and exotic weaponry, and a fan spun overhead.

"What a clusterfuck," Rumia observed. "Do you think someone lives here?"

Mokou scowled. "Yeah, someone does," she said. She pushed her way past Rumia and entered the room, carefully picking her way through the mess on the floor. "Kaguya."

"Wh-what?" Kaguya said. She was still positioned so that her body was facing the tunnel. "T-turn me ar-round!"

Rumia slipped her from her shoulder and held her up by the armpits. Kaguya squeaked in surprise when she got a good look at where they were.

"It's m-my room!" she said. "B-but why? How?"

"Why not?" Rumia said. "Makes about as much sense as anything else. At least it means I can stop hauling your near-corpse around." She picked her way over to the bed and tossed Kaguya on the covers. The Lunarian princess scrambled around so that she was leaning against the pillows and facing her two companions, her eyes dark with contempt and distrust.

Rumia rolled her eyes. "Well, okay. So we found the midget's little hidey-hole. Now what?"

It was a valid question. Save for the toy-lined tunnel that they had just emerged from, the room was without entrance or exit. No doors, no windows, no skylights and no holes. And seeing how the tunnel had been blocked off by both rocks and whole lot of charred worm meat, leaving by that path was going to be problematic.

Mokou wasn't especially worried though. If worst came to worst, they could always just blow their way out. Blasting away solid rock back home took a great deal of effort, but she was willing to bet that it would be a lot easier here. She wouldn't be surprised if the stones turned out to have the same consistency as the paper walls of Eientei.

"N-now?" Kaguya stuttered. "Now you…you f-find a way to f-f-fix me!"

"Love to," Rumia said. "I'm open to suggestions."

Kaguya's hands curled into claws. "Fi-figure…s-s-someth-thing out! Y-you did th-this to me, you fi-find a wa…wa-wa…" Then her eyes, bloodshot with pain, suddenly lit up.

"Th-that's it!" she breathed. "Mokou!"

"Yo?"

"Kill me!"

Mokou's eyebrows shot straight up. "What?"

"Really?" Rumia said. "Suicide? Come on, it's not that bad, is it?"

"F-f-fools!" Kaguya spat. She planted her palms against the pillows and shoved herself up so that she was leaning against the wall. "Not sui…suicide. Fix it!"

"What?" Mokou repeated. "How the hell is me killing you going to fix anything. I mean, don't get me wrong, I think it's a fine idea and I'm all for it. I'm just not understanding the logic here."

Rumia's face suddenly brightened with understanding. "No, wait. Wait, wait, wait. She's right!"

"Uh, huh?" Mokou turned toward her. "You mind explaining this very alluring but still bizarre line of thought?"

"Look, even when you two have lost your flight powers or anything else, your regeneration still worked fine, right?" Rumia said. "This is the only time it's ever failed."

"Yeah. So?"

"So we figure it's because I was the one to dismember her, what with me not coming from these parts."

"Yeah, we established this already. What's your point?" Then Mokou's eyes widened as understanding struck her. "Hold on a second! So you're saying that if I were to kill her, someone who _was _formed by this world and is _supposed _to be here, it'll cancel out whatever you did to screw her up?"

"Yes!" Kaguya said as her body slumped in relief. "That's it!"

Mokou mused over this new idea. There was no denying that the plan itself was right up her alley. She had been killed twice since they had come here, while Kaguya was still running on the same life she had come in with, despite having her spine shattered at one point and being cut in half at another. Their truce meant that she couldn't balance the scales herself, but if it was Kaguya herself instructing her to do the deed, then there was no problem.

But then, they were basing all of this on an untested theory. If Rumia was wrong, and Kaguya had simply lost her regeneration due to the general weirdness that had plagued them since coming here, than they risked eliminating Kaguya all together. And to be honest, Mokou wasn't entirely sure if she was comfortable with that. Setting aside the whole problem of still needing Kaguya's help to escape from this place, she had focused such a large part of her life to her rivalry with Kaguya that the idea that it might end here, through a botched attempt to relieve the Moonbitch's pain instead of some sort of final, climatic confrontation that would finally gift her with a sense of closure, was all kinds of repulsive.

Kaguya must have sensed her reluctance, because she then said, "L-look, just _do _it already! W-worst c-case scen…scenario, I j-just stay dead until…until…" she took a deep breath and practically screamed out, "until Eirin finally catches the little bastard daughter of a whore and forces her to vomit us up!"

"Technically, that's not the worst that could happen," Rumia pointed out. "There's still the chance that killing this representation will somehow damage your soul, thus upsetting your immortality and-"

"Shut up," Kaguya snapped. To Mokou, she said, "In the name of all the gods, don't leave me like this. _Do _it, already!"

"Okay," Mokou said. "It's your funeral."

She walked over to the bed held up her hands. The flames would have to be much hotter than she normally employed. Her usual practice of using just enough heat to burn but not enough to kill until she got bored would do her no good here. Total immolation was the answer. White-hot flames.

"Make sure you've got the fires hot enough," Rumia said. "You've got to disintegrate her completely. And try to make it fast too."

"Thanks, I think I've figured that part out," Mokou muttered. She concentrated, digging deep into her well of power and focusing it around her hands.

"Wait!" Kaguya yelped, breaking Mokou's concentration. "P-pick me up first!"

"Huh?"

Kaguya reached out with her arms. "D-don't torch the b-bed too! Use it to c-collect the ashes!"

"Okay, this is officially one of the strangest conversation I have ever had with you," Mokou said. "But whatever you say." She reached down and picked up Kaguya by the armpits and held her up a good distance above the bed.

"Well, here goes nothing," Mokou said. And then, without meaning to, she did something that she had never done before. Something that she had never dreamed that she would do.

She apologized to Kaguya.

"Sorry about this," she said before she could stop the words from spilling out of her mouth.

Then she set Kaguya ablaze.

For the briefest of moments, Mokou was afraid that her powers would fail her again. That Kaguya would take no damage at all, that she would be cursed with the same indestructibility that had plagued them both when they had first fought in the world of pillars. Or worse, that she would burn, but go no further. That the fires would continue to hurt her, but not kill her, not reduce her to ash as Mokou intended. It was a strange feeling, to actually care if Kaguya felt pain or not. Mokou did her best to ignore it and focused on covering the woman in her hands with as much heat as possible.

Kaguya's body erupted in white flames. Mokou was surprised by how quickly she burned. The fire raged for maybe five seconds before losing their source of fuel. And then there was nothing but fine, grey ash slipping through her fingers to dirty the bedcovers.

Mokou stared at her smeared hands. Despite her success, she felt no relief. Instead, the strange feeling was only growing stronger. She rubbed the ash between her fingers.

_My gods, I just murdered her, _she found herself thinking. But why should that bother her? She murdered Kaguya all the time, and in this instance she not only had permission, but clear instruction. So why was she now so uncomfortable?

There was the rasping sound of someone clearing their throat. "Well, okay," Rumia said. "That's done. Now what?"

Mokou shook herself out of her trance. "Now?" she said with a shrug. She wiped her hands on the blanket and walked away to slump against the far wall. "Now we wait and see what happens. Just pray we don't get interrupted in the meantime."

"I don't pray. And interrupted by what?"

"How should I know? There's that worm thing, for starters." Mokou's already frowning face darkened even further. "It would be just our luck if it fixed itself up and came after us again."

"Oh, I don't think so," Rumia said. She pulled down one of the tapestries and used it to wipe Kaguya's blood from her blade. "Something tells me we won't have to worry about him anymore. Just a feeling I have."

...

Strictly speaking, the velmick was not an actual creature. None of the beings save for Rin Satsuki's three prisoners were. From the inhabitants of the dead town of Kamakura to the constantly respawning crew of the _Kobayashi Maru _to the creatures Kaguya called the Zerg to the velmick itself. None of them actually existed, but were rather images taken from the memories and minds of Kaguya Houraisan and Fujiwara no Mokou. Oh, they behaved as if they were alive, and they were dangerous enough, insofar as the dream world's captives were concerned. But they possessed no true sentience, or even animalistic instinct. The people talked, but there was no thought governing the words. The monsters roared, but there was no feeling of rage behind their cries. And though they all screamed when hurt, none of them felt any actual pain. They were simply reacting as programmed by the minds that had created them. A pocket calculator had more self-awareness.

And even if the velmick were real, there still would not be much in the way of reasoning going on. They had been created as a weapon, and despite their tremendous size and power they did were not gifted with actual intelligence. In lieu of brains their impulses were generated and directed by a highly sensitive nervous system that wove throughout the entire beast, save for the exterior of their exoskeletons. Amazing speed and reflexes, but that was about it. Had they been dealing with a normal velmick, it would have stopped pursuing them the moment they passed beyond the boundary of its senses. For all intents and purposes, they would no longer exist as far as it would be concerned.

However, _this _velmick was much different than the Lunarian-created monsters that had inspired it. It was not at all concerned with the instincts that governed its real-world brethren. It had been created for two specific purposes. The first was to scare the everloving hell out of Kaguya Houraisan. And now that, after over a thousand years of disuse, it was once again free to fulfill its directive.

But in the process it had been given a second task: to drive off or destroy the dark intruder. The dream had sensed its presence the moment it had fallen from the heavens, and had been trying to remove it ever since. The first two attempts had failed miserably. Granted, the sailors had been a spur-of-the-moment solution, so their defeat came as no surprise. But the second try, taking a race of incredibly deadly predators from Kaguya's imagination and hurling them en masse at the dark intruder had also ended in failure. The dark intruder had worked directly against the dream in that instance, exerting its power and overwhelming that of the dream to destroy the beasts.

The velmick was attempt number three. It was the mightiest guardian to yet be unleashed, and the most resistant to the wiles of the dark intruder. And massive internal damage or no, it was not going to stop pursuing its directives.

And so, soon after it had been turned into a hollowed out husk and buried in a cave-in, the dream worked to heal its champion. Scorched meat and immolated organs were restored, as good as new. The velmick withdrew from the tunnel, pulling its body back into the great room that held up the sea of lily petals. It then drew back, ready to thrust its body back into the cavern in pursuit of its prey.

But then it paused.

Save for two holes in the roof several meters away, the room was devoid of light. And the velmick itself was blind. Still, when the shadows began to move, it knew. Or rather, the dream that controlled it knew. It had not created them. They had no business being there.

And yet, there they were, slinking out of the tunnel and across the floor. Even lightless room, they somehow stood apart from the darkness. Stronger, darker, more powerful. And driven by a will blacker than any nightmare the dream could conjure up. And as they approached, the velmick, a beast strong beyond reckoning, feared even by the godlike beings that had created it, shied back.

_**Yes, you feel me, don't you? **_the shadows seemed to whisper. _**With the firebird no longer in your belly, I no longer need to fear harming her. And my irritating companions can't see you now. So there really is no reason to hold back anymore, is there? **_

There were no words spoken, but the intent was communicated nevertheless. And the dream felt it.

_**You know, you are quite an impressive beast, **_the dark intruder purred as they wrapped around the cowering worm. _**In other circumstances, I might be tempted to keep you as a pet. But unfortunately, you got in my way and made yourself to be extremely annoying. A poor move, all around.**_

Again, there was no sound. No audible words. But still, the dark intruder laughed. And the dream heard.

_**You made a powerful enemy today, worm. And I tire of your existence. So let me teach you who the real dominant predator is around here.**_

The shadows struck. They plunged into the velmick's body, passing right through its supposedly impenetrable carapace as if it were nothing more than a normal worm's squishy flesh. The velmick bellowed as its body shriveled and turned black, but not for long.

When it hit the floor less than a moment later, it was no longer a relentless engine of power and destruction. Instead, it more resembled nothing more than a mile-long lump of charcoal.

The shadows retreated, returning to their master.

The dream considered this new development. It was not exactly sentient itself, but that did not mean it was without an agenda of its own. It wanted to keep Kaguya Houraisan and Fujiwara no Mokou in. And it wanted the dark intruder gone. And in pursuit of those goals, it was capable of acknowledging threats and adapting accordingly. Despite the diminutive form it had taken, the dark intruder was stronger than the dream. Mere strength would not work.

With this taken into account, the dream set to work preparing the next guardian. If it couldn't match the dark intruder in power, than it would just have to get creative.

...

Mokou pushed away as much of the junk as she could and did her best to make herself comfortable. Rumia sat at the opposite end of the room, looking through Kaguya's toys with a look of absolute bafflement. Between them, Kaguya's ashes still lay unmoving on the bed. Mokou sighed and stretched out her legs.

"So, how long is this going to take?" Rumia asked.

Mokou shrugged. "Awhile. Full disintegration takes a long time to come back from. First her soul has to figure out that her body doesn't exist anymore. That usually takes a few minutes at least. Than it has to reconnect with the ash and start pushing it back together. Once there's a large enough clump, the ash will start shifting back into flesh. It'll be mostly just a lump at first, but then the skeleton will start to reform, pushing some shape into the thing, and then-"

"Okay, okay, I get it," Rumia said. "Sheesh, that's pretty twisted. And surprisingly detailed, by the way. Exactly how many times have you done this to her?"

"A lot," Mokou said with another shrug. She shifted her weight, bringing one knee up and rest her arm across it. "Far more times than I could count, even if I were bothered to try."

"I didn't just mean kill her, I meant burn her completely to ash," Rumia said.

"So did I."

Even with the light of Kaguya's lamp, there were enough shadows that Rumia's crimson youkai eyes shone brightly. At Mokou's answer, the glint of cunning appeared in them. "Huh. Interesting. Now, just out of curiosity, have you ever considered torching her like you did just now, and scattering the ashes so that she couldn't come back."

Mokou considered telling her to shut up and mind her own business. Instead, she said, "Yeah, a couple times."

"And?"

A third shrug. "It gave me a week without her. But she came back. Her whole body resurrected from a single speck of ash. We can't stay dead. I'm pretty sure that elixir of Eirin Yagokoro's could bring us back from oblivion, if we ever found a way to get there."

"Fascinating," Rumia murmured. Her voice had lowered an octave. Her rough youkai accent softened. "So if I'm not being too bold, what would you say is the absolute worst thing you either of you have done to each other? I mean besides the obvious answer of mutual existence."

Mokou didn't immediately respond. She remained sitting, her fingers tapping a rhythm against her knee. Her dull maroon eyes studied Rumia's face as the wheels in her head turned.

"Why," she said at last "do you want to know?"

Rumia shrugged and smiled. "Oh, let's just say there's a couple people back home that have done me a wrong or two, and I really want to get back at them."

"This Rin Satsuki?" Mokou said. She still wasn't sure of what to make of what Kaguya and Rumia had told her of their mysterious jailer. She only knew that she was completely unsurprised that Eirin Yagokoro had so easily turned a young weakling into a monstrosity that openly defied the laws of reality. That was, after all, what she did.

"Naw, not her. Just some other youkai, like me. I just figured that so long as I'm stuck here with you two, I might as well get some advice on revenge. You know, from the experts."

"What did they do to you?" Mokou asked. She didn't trust anything Rumia said, but there was something about this conversation that had a ring of truth.

"They ruined the best job I ever had," Rumia responded. She sighed in regret. "It was almost too good to be true, but it was. I could have bought my own apartment in Center Tree with the payoff. And they went and ruined the whole thing. Set me up to get ambushed and caused me to get trapped in one of those damned youkai sealing spells. It was six decades before someone finally let me out."

"That's not so long."

Rumia snorted. "Yeah, to you it wouldn't be. But let me tell you, when you're stuck in one of those hellish youkai traps, still aware but with your body frozen in a vapor state, completely divorced from your senses, sixty years feels like a very long time."

Mokou thought about that and found herself agreeing.

"So what did you have in mind?" she asked.

"That's the problem," Rumia said, her voice souring. "I don't know. I keep coming back to 'kill them', but that just doesn't seem like enough. I've considered hiring some Human mercs to put them in a seal, but that also doesn't seem like enough. I want to know what the absolute worst thing you can do to a person. Something that would tip the scales so far in my favor that they would have to spend the next three hundred years working their asses off, just to catch up."

Mokou scratched her cheek. That was a lot of hate. She could sympathize. "Uh, yeah. You're asking the wrong girl, here," she said. "Just about everything I've done to Kaguya has involved killing her. If you want to know the best way to subject them to days of utter agony until death itself feels like a relief, I might be able to help you. But it sounds like you're looking for…" Mokou's voice trailed off. The answer to Rumia's question had just risen unbidden in her mind, riding a memory long scabbed over.

"Yeah, I know," Rumia sighed. She tossed the action figure she had been fiddling with aside. "Forget it. It was a stupid question anyway."

"No, no it isn't," Mokou muttered. She stared down at the pile of silly toys that lay all around her, but didn't see any of them. Images were swimming in front of her eyes, and long dead voices were screaming in her ears.

_You stupid, stupid girl! You think I wanted this?_

"Say what now?" Rumia said. "What do you mean?"

Mokou shook herself. She pushed the memory away, shoved it back into the deep hole that it had emerged from. Then she looked up to stare Rumia in the eye. "If you want to go hurt someone, to really destroy them, here's how you do it. Find out what they love. What they worship. Figure out what they value above everything else, what they would literally forfeit their soul to keep."

"And kill that instead, and make them watch?" Rumia said. "Sounds a little clichéd, but I can see that doing the trick."

"No," Mokou said as she shook her head. A small smile twitched her lips, one that was completely without laughter. "You don't kill it. You don't kill anything."

"What?"

Mokou leaned forward. There was a new edge to her voice, one not too dissimilar to madness. She noticed, but didn't care. "No, that's hurt them, but they can always get over that and find something else to love. What you do is take that thing, the thing that the person you hate loves the most, and you change it. Corrupt it. Pervert it. Make sure it's still technically the same thing, but with everything about it that they had held dear gone. Broken beyond repair. They'll live the rest of their lives obsessing over what you did, wondering how they could have prevented it, trying to figure out how to save the object of their desire, but despairing in the knowledge that it's impossible."

Silence fell upon the room. The spinning fan was the only thing that moved.

And then Rumia said, "Interesting. And, ah, correct me if I'm wrong, but that doesn't sound like something you did to Kaguya."

Without breaking eye contact, Mokou shook her head. "No. It's not."

"Something she did to you, then?"

"No. Something I did to someone else. A long time ago."

"Huh." Mokou could almost hear Rumia's mind racing, filling in the blanks of what Mokou had told her. "You must have really hated the bastard, then."

"No," Mokou said for the third time. She continued to stare at the youkai girl. "I didn't."

"Is that so." A small, crafty smile appeared on Rumia's lips. "Okay then, I won't pry. Thanks for the tip, though. I'll definitely be giving that some thought." Then her gaze shifted from Mokou to the bed and her face brightened. "Ah, check it out! Our royal friend is finally starting to stir."

She was right. On the bed, the ash was now gathering together, clumping together like the dust of some magnetic metal. As Mokou had claimed, once they had formed into a shapeless lump, the ash smoothed themselves out and became a blob of pale flesh. The blob began to ripple and stretch, as if there were a tiny person inside trying to tear their way out. But instead of ripping it merely continued to stretch and take form, pushing out nubs that would shape themselves into limbs.

"Well, guess our theory was right after all," Rumia said as she watched in fascination. "Kind of disgusting though. Still, that's one less thing to worry about."

Mokou didn't respond. She just watched Kaguya's rebirth in silence. And once again, she had no idea how she was supposed to feel about it. One would argue that she should feel relieved that she had not accidentally put an end to the Moonbitch. Another would say that she should be disappointed for not accomplishing just that. And given the memories that Rumia's questioning had dredged up, it was hard not to agree with the latter position.

Kaguya took her sweet time coming back, but return to life she did. And after over forty minutes of reshaping herself, she finally opened her eyes.

"Oh," she said as she sat up on her knees and slapped her newly formed legs. "Oh, hey! Hey, it worked!" She grinned in relief while patting her face and touching her hair as if to check to see if it was there. "Awesome! Never thought I'd say this, but thanks Mokou!"

Mokou still said nothing. She just continued to stare, but for reasons different than her moody brooding. Rumia did the same, her mouth hanging open in disbelief.

Kaguya noticed. "Oh, what's with you two?" she said. "You didn't think it would work. Well, sorry to disappoint you."

Mokou just shook her head and allowed herself to smile for real. It was as if fate had sensed her black mood and had sent her a little something to cheer her up. And by the gods, it was working.

"Kaguya," Rumia grinned. She covered her mouth and started snickering. "Welcome back. Looking…smooth."

"Smooth?" Kaguya frowned. "Okay, there's some sort of joke I'm not getting here. What happened while I was out?"

Mokou lifted a fist to her mouth and loudly cleared her throat. "Nothing, nothing. We're just glad to have you back." Then she had to choke back laughter of her own.

Kaguya's eyes flitted from face to the other. Her face was now downright bewildered. "What?" she said. "What? Did I come back with two heads or something?" She hopped off the bed and put one hand on her hip. "Because I don't mind telling you, I'm getting a little sick-"

She stopped in mid-sentence. The look of confusion froze. She slowly reached down with the other arm to touch the opposite hip. Her eyes widened as realization dawned, and her expression grew into one of horror.

"So, uh, Kaguya," Mokou said. "Feel a draft?"

That did it. Both she and Rumia burst into hysterics.

Given their mutual hobby of cyclistic murder, the clothing that Kaguya and Mokou wore were heavily reinforced with regeneration spells, designed to ensure that their garments returned with their bodies. It was quite similar to those employed by wild youkai and fairies, only much stronger, given that their average lifespan between deaths could at times be measure in hours, and there was no telling where there body might end up upon resurrection. The effectiveness of such spells had been put to the test countless times, and it had been a long time since they had encountered a method of demise that they could not compensate for.

However, for whatever reason, they chose today to fail. At least half of them did. The white cotton tee shirt that she had been wearing since they had arrived returned with no problems. But her shorts were still missing in action. Perhaps it was due to the fact that they had been snipped off with her lower half and had burned with the rest of the velmick. Perhaps it was due to the hypothesized disruption caused by Rumia's sword. Perhaps it was just the dream itself pulling a silly prank. But for whatever reason, Kaguya's ever-decreasing wardrobe now just consisted of her shirt, leaving her naked from the waist down.

To her credit, Kaguya didn't turn bright red, didn't scream, didn't squeal or throw things at them. She didn't even panic and try to cover herself up. She simply slumped her shoulders and groan out loud. "Oh, this can't be happening," she said as her companions continued to laugh. "This…this is just…Okay. Guys. Look. Haha, very funny, I get it. But I'm having a really lousy time here. So could you two just please stop laughing and look the other way before I _rip you heads off with my bare hands?"_

Mokou exchanged an amused look with Rumia. "What do you think, youkai?" she said. "Should we give her a break? I mean, it's not like we haven't been doing all the work."

"DO IT!" Kaguya screeched. "NOW!"

"We might as well," Rumia said, still snickering. "At this rate she'll spontaneously combust with anger, and we'll have to wait for her to resurrect all over again."

"All, right, all right," Mokou said, though she still took her own sweet time in rising to her feet. Rumia followed suit, and they went over to stand in the tunnel entrance, their back to the room. Inside, Kaguya could be heard ranting as she pulled the room apart, searching for something to cover herself.

"I can't believe this, I just can't believe this. It wasn't enough that they take me straight from the open seas to the freaking Moon, it wasn't enough they had to send a velmick after me and smash my boat and lose my hat, it wasn't enough that I had to go back and _fight _the velmick to save _Mokou _of all people-"

"Yeah, and fantastic job you did there, by the way," Mokou called over her shoulder. "I don't know what I would have done without you."

A book flew through the air to smack the back of her head. "I said shut up," Kaguya growled. "I mean, what does this place have against me?"

"Hey," Rumia said. "Look on the bright side. At least we found a weird copy of your room right before. I mean, if there's any place where you could find something to wear…"

"You'd think that, wouldn't you?" Kaguya shot back. Mokou could hear her tearing through the set of drawers. "But so far I am not seeing anything I can…Oh. Hello."

"Hello what?" Mokou slouched against the tunnel wall and pushed around a plastic sword with her foot. She glanced back into the room.

Kaguya was squatting in from of the chest of drawers. The bottommost drawer was wide open and she was staring at its contents with a look of near religious awe. She noticed Mokou looking at her and threw another book at her. "Hey! A little privacy, please?"

Mokou deflected the paper missile and turned away. "Nothing I haven't seen before, Moonbitch."

"Yeah, but we weren't on the same side then. It doesn't count!"

"You two have the _weirdest _relationship," Rumia said. "No joke."

No one rushed to contradict her. Cloth ruffled as Kaguya dressed herself. In a rare demonstration of courtesy, Mokou and Rumia waited for her to finish.

When she was certain that Kaguya was taking longer than she should, Mokou called, "Hey, what's the hold up back there? I thought you were just putting on a pair of pants or a skirt. Don't tell me you've trying to fit into a full ballroom gown or something."

"Nope," Kaguya said. Mokou could practically hear the grin in her voice. "Even better. Hang on, I'm almost…got it. Okay, you guys can come back in now."

"Finally," Rumia said as she and Mokou turned around. And then they stared.

The good news was that Kaguya had found a full outfit. However, Mokou had no idea what to make of it. A white button-down shirt was now over Kaguya's tee shirt, with a grey v-neck sweater pulled on over that. She had found a knee-length dark green skirt to cover her bum, and had pulled on a pair shiny black shoes with calf-high socks of the same color. A green-and-silver striped tie was secured tightly around her throat, and an open black robe completed the look. It reminded Kaguya of those outfits worn by the girls in some of Kaguya's magazines, only this one covered a great deal more skin.

Kaguya folded her arms and favored them with a defiant look. "Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Guess what? I don't care."

Rumia opened her mouth to say something, but seemed unable to fully articulate her thoughts. "What…what is…I don't even…" She shook her head and turned to Mokou. "Mokou. Please explain to me why she's dressed as an orphan?"

"Orphan?" Now it was Kaguya's turn to look bewildered. "What? This is an official Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry uniform! Slytherin House, to be specific. Go team snake."

"Oh gods, here we go. Don't ask her," Mokou said before Rumia could so much as open her mouth. "She wants you to ask her. She's mentally begging you to ask her. Trust me, the answer will just be long, stupid and won't matter in the slightest."

Kaguya actually looked offended, which was a rarity. Most of the time she just looked annoyed or homicidal. "You know, contrary to popular belief, I don't actually go around looking for excuses to talk about my hobbies with people I hate," she muttered.

"Okay. Whatever. You found some clothes, and now look ridiculous," Rumia said. She walked back into the room and sat back down on the floor. "Great. So now that we're all together again and the worm's out of the way, what now?"

Kaguya looked like she still wanted to argue, but Mokou cut her off. The question was a good one, after all. "Now?" she said as she returned to her own corner. "Now we take a break."

"A break?" Kaguya scowled. "Really? Is this really the time?"

Mokou grunted as she eased herself back down. "Can you think of a better time? Come on, Houraisan. Both of us just went through some very heavy resurrections. Even Rumia got herself wrecked, a little bit. Dream body or no dream body, I'm spent. And I know you are too."

Kaguya's glare deepened, but then she considered Mokou's words and her face softened. "Maybe you're right," she admitted as she sat back on the bed. "Maybe a break is a good idea."

"Okay," Rumia said. "But after we're done refreshing our juices, what then?"

Mokou waved a wrist in her direction. "We'll figure that out later. It's not like we know anything about what's coming. We don't have enough information to make any sort of plans."

"But-"

"Shut up," Mokou and Kaguya said, at the exact same time.

Rumia scowled, but complied. She slumped back and stretched her legs onto a pile of Kaguya's toys. On the bed, Kaguya laid back on the pillows, folded her hands behind her head and closed her eyes.

Mokou followed suit, relaxing her body the best she could. She had no idea how long it had been since she had literally fallen into this world, but it had to a couple days, at least. Not at all a significant amount of time by anyone's reckoning, least of all hers, but the severity of the situation made it feel longer. And the fact that sleep had thus far proven impossible did nothing to help.

She had tried, a couple of times on Kaguya's dumb boat, but nothing had happened. She supposed this was to be expected, given the inherent redundancy of sleeping in a dream world, but she was now tired enough to give it another try. So she closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind.

About ten minutes later she opened them again. Kaguya had curled up and was facing her, but her eyes were open. Rumia was staring at the ceiling, watching the blades of the fan spin around and around.

Mokou grunted. Okay, so sleep wasn't going to happen after all. Just as well. That might lead to a dream within the dream, and that was just a little too much metaphysical weirdness for her to handle at the moment.

She drew her father's sword and laid it across her knees. Though she barely, if ever, gave the actual article a second look these days, she felt a strange attachment to this facsimile dredged up from centuries-old memories. She turned it back and forth, watching her reflection stretch and warp in the battle-worn blade. Perhaps its presence was her subconscious' way of chiding her for letting the blade fall into such poor condition. Perhaps it was time to see about getting it repaired.

The thought made her mouth squeeze into a thin line. Then again, what reason did she have? The Fujiwara family was gone. She was its only surviving member, and she was so divorced from humanity that she was certain that she didn't count anymore. That had been her family's opinion, certainly. If she took it upon herself to repair their only surviving treasure, it would probably disgrace all of her ancestor's at once. Maybe it was best to leave it broken. At least then it matched everything else about her.

Mokou stared into the blade as she thought. Within, she could see the wall behind her, with all of Kaguya's posters and tapestries. In that regard at least, the dream had been accurate. Kaguya's real room back home was likewise covered with advertisements for fictional characters and monsters from the Outside World. Mokou found this frankly baffling. Who would care about such people, besides Kaguya herself? Who was she trying to show off her infatuation for? Did she think that by plastering their likenesses all over her walls, that others might become interested and-

Wait. Mokou stopped tilting the blade back and forth. One of the posters caught her eyes. She leaned forward to get a better look. In the metal, she could see the reflection of a man's face, glaring down at her. A very familiar face.

It was as if her blood froze to ice in her veins. Mokou's hands trembled. She slowly set the sword aside and turned around.

The posters and tapestries had all changed. Gone were Kaguya's imaginary friends. In their place were the images of people, people who were not imaginary at all. They stared out at the room's occupants from their worlds of paper and cloth, their eyes dark with accusation.

Mokou's breath caught in her throat. "Kaguya!" she choked as she scrambled up. "Rumia!"

Her companions jolted out of their daydreams. "What?" Kaguya said as she sat up. "What's wrong?"

In response, Mokou just pointed a shaking finger. Kaguya's already pale face took on another shade of pallid.

"Eh?" Rumia said as she stood up. She looked around. "Hey, what gives? Who are these guys?"

Mokou stared at one group of people in particular. There were four of them, three men and one woman. The woman's face was horribly bloated with cancerous growths, while blood poured from the throat of the youngest of the men. However, her attention was focused on the oldest of the men, who stood the closest. His dark eyes burrowed into her, eyes that were shaped just like her own.

"Our families," she said.

"And then some," Kaguya said. Her attention was focused on several people glaring out from the other wall, all of them wearing fine clothes, with hair in both midnight black or shining silver. "The whole godsdamned Lunarian court, to be specific.

"Your families?" Rumia looked around. She gulped. "Oh boy. Shit just got personal."

"It's been personal since Kamakura," Mokou said. She snatched up her sword from the ground. "Grab whatever you need. We're leaving."

"Yeah," Kaguya said. She slowly moved off the bed, her eyes never leaving the wall. "No arguments."

Moments later they were out of the room and hurrying through the hallway. Both Kaguya and Mokou provided a light source of their own, and the three of them picked their way over the mess on the floor the best they could.

After awhile, Rumia said, "Um, I'm not claiming to have kept track of the distance or anything, but shouldn't we have reached the cave-in by now?"

Another few minutes passed, and Kaguya said, "Wait, is it just me, is the floor now sloping upwards?"

It was. Mokou, who was in the lead, glanced back to her two companions. "We're being herded. Head's up, this is going to get-"

Both her ball of flame and Kaguya's miniature sun winked out, leaving Rumia's eyes as the only source of light.

"-dark?" Mokou tried to summon up another fireball but found that she could not. "Hey, what?"

"Not again," she heard Kaguya lament. "This dream isn't just sadistic, it's bloody bipolar!"

The burning lights of Rumia's eyes turned towards them. "All right, all right," her voice said. "Calm down. I can see in the dark, so-"

"You do? Great." Mokou reached out and grabbed Rumia by the shoulders. She twisted her around and shoved her in front of them. "Congratulations, you've just been promoted to guide."

She heard Rumia stumble and hiss. "You mean meatshield, right?"

"Call it what you want," Mokou retorted. "You can see, so you go first." After a brief pause she added, "Kaguya, you take the middle."

"What?" Kaguya said, her voice rising in protest. "Why me?"

"Because I'm better at fighting unarmed than you," Mokou said. "If something sneaks up behind us, I'll have the best chance of beating it."

"Bull! You just want to make sure you take the rear!"

"Why are you so upset?" Rumia asked. "Isn't the middle the safest position to take?"

Kaguya didn't say anything. Mokou didn't either. After a moment, Rumia let out a disgusted snarl and said, "Oh. Again with the…You know, after this is over, I am sending both of you the biggest bill ever, just for putting up with your paranoid asses."

"Go ahead," Mokou said. "It's not like I'll pay." She felt around until she found the shoulder of Kaguya's stupid schoolgirl uniform. She shoved the princess between her and Rumia. "Okay, just to prevent any sudden disappearances, you keep one hand on her shoulder, and I'll keep one hand on yours until we find light."

"If that hand of yours so much as starts smoking, I am going to break your nose," Kaguya muttered.

"You know the great thing about having lost your powers? You don't have to worry about that happening." Mokou grinned, her teeth hidden by the darkness. "I might be tempted to twist your head around, though."

"Knock it off, both of you," Rumia snapped. Her eyes turned out of sight. "Okay, let's go."

They moved forward in a silent formation. The path of the tunnel continued to slope upward, but not becoming steep enough to become a problem. Toys, books and plastic gizmos crunched and crinkled under Mokou's bare feet, occasionally puncturing them, but she bore it in silence.

After a few minutes, Rumia said, "Kaguya's junk pile's gone." No one responded, but Mokou did feel a measure of relief to be stepping on cool stone.

Some more time passed. And then Rumia said in a hushed voice, "Hey, I think we're almost out of here. I can see light."

She was right. Directly in front of them but still a ways away was a tiny white pinpoint.

"What's that?" Kaguya said, her voice suspicious. "A star?"

"Down here? Probably not, but I'm not ruling anything out. It might be the exit though."

"Only one way to find out," Mokou muttered.

"Agreed," Rumia said. "Company forward."

They continued on. The light grew larger and brighter as they drew closer. When they neared enough, they saw a rough hewn hole leading to the open air.

"The exit," Rumia said, a note of satisfaction in her voice. "Excellent."

Though she too was relieved that they had left the tunnel without incident, Mokou said, "Don't relax just yet. We're not in the clear yet."

"Goes without saying. Okay, let's see what the next scene has for us."

They approached the exit and cautiously looked out. After surveying the landscape, Kaguya whimpered. "Still? We're still here?"

Mokou found herself agreeing with her rival's sentiments. She too wasn't enthralled by the sight. They had emerged onto a steep hillside that overlook a vast plain. A plain made of grey dust and craters. Stars shone overhead against a black canopy, surrounding the globe of the Earth. Again.

Kaguya let go of Rumia's shoulder. She balled her hands into fist and slammed them against the tunnel side. "Why?" she cried. "Why are we still here? I don't want to be here anymore! Enough is enough, let me go home!"

Rumia quirked an eyebrow. "I thought-"

"This isn't my home!" Kaguya snapped. _"Gensokyo_ is my home." She shoved Rumia out of the way as she reentered the tunnel. "Screw this, I'm going back to my room! I'll just burn the posters!"

"Hold up, Moonbitch," Mokou said as she seized Kaguya by the arm. "No one's going anywhere until we figure out-"

There was a loud _crack _and a spray of rock chips exploded off the side of the entrance.

"Down!" Rumia snapped. She grabbed Mokou and Kaguya by the backs of their shirts and hauled them back into the tunnel and out of sight.

"What, what?" Mokou said as she tried to regain her footing. "What was that?"

"Someone just shot at us," Kaguya said in a breathless voice, her eyes wide. She started clawing through the stone chips. "A bullet. Someone's shooting bullets at us."

Mokou frowned. "Danmaku? We're freaking out because of danmaku?"

"No you idiot, not danmaku," Kaguya hissed. She held up a small warped piece of metal. "Real bullets!"

"Really?" Mokou raised her head, the top of it coming into the light.

Almost immediately the air filled with zinging shots that blew of small pieces of the walls. One of them hit Mokou right above her right eyebrow, knocking her back down.

"Uggh, guhlunk," she muttered as her vision swam and filled with dark spots. The bullet was forced out of her head and landed in her lap. The hole closed. She blinked and wiped the blood from her forehead.

"Okay, I'm convinced," she said to Kaguya.

The princess closed her eyes and sighed. "You are such an _idiot!"_

The shooting stopped. And then an amplified male voice called out to them. "This is your first warning! All of you, throw down your weapons and surrender yourselves."

Mokou's spine went rigid and her mouth opened wide. No, no, no. It couldn't be. This was just too cruel, even for this place.

"The hell we're giving up," Kaguya snarled. "Okay, Rumia? You can still do that living blender of death thing, right?"

Rumia pushed her hair out of her face and nodded. "No reason why not."

"Great. Okay, this is what we'll do. Me and Mokou may have lost our firepower, but we can still heal just fine. So we'll rush out and draw their fire. When they're busy with us, you rush out and-"

"No," Mokou said, her voice thick with emotion. "No. We're…we're doing as he says."

A beat, and then Kaguya started laughing. "Mokou, has your brain not healed yet or something? Why the hell would we do that?"

"No, wait. She may be onto something," Rumia said. "We need to find the center of your subconsciousnesses, right? And the further in we go, the more likely we are to find them, right?" She held out her hand toward the outside. "Well, we may have just found ourselves an armed escort."

"You're both brain damaged!" Kaguya exclaimed. "That's the Lunarian Army out there!"

"You sure?" Rumia asked.

"Who else would be shooting bullets on the Moon? And if the Army is here, then someone from the court can't be far behind! Probably that douchebag with the megaphone."

"He isn't part of the court," Mokou said.

Kaguya stared at her. "And how would you know that? Did you get a look at him or…Oh."

Mokou looked up to see the barrel of a sleek, steel rifle of some kind of black metal pointing right at them. There were several clicking sounds as more weapons were cocked and pointed right at the three travelers. Holding the weapons were rabbit youkai in blue military uniforms.

The fires in Rumia's eyes burned bright. "Okay, this is more my speed," she said in a smooth, silky voice. "Who's in the mood for rabbit meat?"

"No!" Mokou snapped. She rose to her full height and stared down at the red-eyed youkai. "We're doing what that man said! No fighting!"

"Very wise," said the man's voice, this time natural and unamplified. They turned to see him standing in the tunnel entrance, glowering down at them.

The man wore a sharp blue uniform, not dissimilar to that worn by the gun-toting rabbits. But while they were soldiers, this was clearly the wardrobe of a commander, with short cape hanging over one shoulder and a row of different colored gems adorning his breast. But no Lunarian was this. His hair was dark brown with streaks of white. His eyes were dark and severe. A wispy beard adorned his thin cheeks and jutted off his chin. He wore a sword at his side, a katana in a plain black sheath. Mokou could still see the hilt though. It was identical to that of the blade she held in her own hands.

He held up a hand, and the rabbits lifted their weapons so that the barrels were pointing up. His smoldering eyes looked at Kaguya's face, flickered briefly to Mokou's before settling on Rumia's. His already black expression darkened even further.

"As I said, you are now the prisoners of the Lunarian people," he said. "Any attempt to resist will be met with force. So throw down your weapons now, or we will be forced to return with your corpses."

Rumia rolled her eyes in disbelief. "Out of all the pretentious…Kaguya, who is this joker?"

"Beats me," Kaguya said. "Never met him in my life."

"Yes, you have," Mokou said.

Both Kaguya and Rumia turned to look at her. For her part, Mokou's shoulder lumped, and she allowed her family's sword to fall from her fingers to clatter on the ground.

"You too, Rumia," she said.

Rumia snorted. "Give me one good reason why."

"Because," the man said. "I will kill you very dead if you don't."

This pronouncement was rewarded with a mocking laugh. "Are you serious? Gods, at least the velmick didn't bother with the pretensions."

"Mokou, who is this guy?" Kaguya asked.

Mokou looked up at the man's face. Aside from the brief glance he had given her, he had not acknowledged her presence. But was that really so surprising, considering how their last meeting had gone?

"Rumia, Kaguya," she said, motioning to the man. "Meet…Well, in your case, re-meet…Fujiwara no Fuhito." It had been literally hundreds of years since she had said that name out loud. She was surprised by how difficult it was.

Kaguya still looked confused, but then realization struck. "Wait, you mean this…You mean he's your…"

Rumia's eyes snapped wide open. She glanced from Mokou to the man. A small smile appeared on her lips.

"Yeah," Mokou said. She turned to look at him for herself. Despite wearing what she presumed was the uniform of a Lunarian commander, he still looked exactly as she remembered. "My Father."

_...  
_

_Before I begin, I would like to state that, just for the record, this chapter and IM's _The Storm _arc were plotted out separately, and as such any resemblances are coincidences that I did not even notice until beginning this chapter. I don't know what it is with me and giant flower-covered worm monsters. I mean, I haven't read _Dune for years!

_Anyway, you know how after a long delayed update finally goes up, I usually include a rant about how much trouble I had with the chapter? I'm about to do one right now! Though it there was a nasty case of writer's block at the beginning and I ended up deleting about fifteen pages due to dissatisfaction, this delay was more thanks to a lot of schoolwork and my computer crashing and being out of commission for a week straight. It got better once I got the ball rolling, but man there were a lot of obstacles._

_So I guess this is as good a place as any to remind you guys that now that this chapter has gone up, I am unfortunately going to put all my stories on hiatus for a little bit. Sorry guys, but this is the last semester before I graduate, and I really need to not fail these classes. Which is not to say I won't be doing any work during my absence. For one thing, there's a few stories I've promised to read and review, so I'll be using this opportunity to finally get to that (note that this isn't an invitation to suggest more stories, as that will only make things take longer). Also, I'll also be giving both Imperfect Metamorphosis and Rhapsody of Subconscious Desire a long-needed overhaul, fixing up editing errors, smoothing out some of the weaker scenes and repairing whatever plotholes and continuity errors I find. I'll leave most of the accidental deviations from canon, as they fit better into the narrative, but I am seriously considering fixing that Akyuu resurrection problem. While the whole gives-birth-to-self thing is cool, that is one error that's always seriously bugged me. _

_So when will I start updating again? Rough estimate, probably sometime in December. I'm planning another Christmas Special, and would like to get at least one regular chapter up before then. But only time and circumstance will tell. _

_All right, now that that business is out of the way, it's again time for a bit of advertising. A fellow I know has recently started a flash-animation web series called _Cherry Weapon, _which follows a renegade cyborg assassin as she tries to escape from her creators and find a better life. Only one episode is up thus far, but it's a doozy, with a real Elfen Lied meets Prototype vibe to it. So again, if you're interested, you'll find the relevant links to the official site, Youtube channel and Facebook page on my profile. And if you like what you see, subscribe, Like, and tell Dozzer that TakerFoxx sent you!_

_Until next time, everyone! _


	6. Separations

Separations

_A hand grabbed her by the shoulder and shoved her forward. She tried to resist, but as her arms were bound behind her back she found herself forced down to her knees._

_She could see nothing. All of her hair had been shaved off and a heavy metal helmet had been bound around her head. But thanks to the tiny transmitter imbedded in the helmet's material she could hear just fine._

"_Criminal," said the deep, resonant voice of her judge, her own father. Apparently he wasn't using her real name anymore. "You have disgraced our people and brought shame upon what once was your family."_

_She said nothing._

"_Rather than being content with your privileged station, you sought to violate the laws of succession and take the throne for yourself. And in your treacherous bid for power, you deceived one of our most respected citizens, Eirin of house Yagokoro, and seduced her to your cause!"_

_Low voices murmured all around the girl. She wondered how many members of her family were in attendance. Likely most of them, if not all. The entirety of the Court was probably there too. After all, it was not every day that a princess of the Royal Family was put on trial for treason._

"_And not only that," her father continued. "But you took something that was never yours to receive. The gift of true immortality, something that should have granted to the heir, not the least of the family!" Though she could not see him, she could well imagine the anger veins popping out on his forehead. "And especially not to an ungrateful, selfish brat with designs of treachery!"_

_The girl found herself thankful for the mask. Though she did care much for the king, he was still her father. And his words still hurt. Bitter tears stung her eyes and dripped down her cheeks. _

"_How could this have happened?" she heard him mutter. "From my own family. My own seed, no less. How could such a taint have appeared?"_

_And then another voice answered him, that of a woman. It was filled with scorn and mockery, and was all too familiar to the captive girl. "Oh my King, let not your heart be troubled," she said. "The blame lies not with you, nor your noble blood. For cruel nature often deigns even the finest of trees to occasionally produce bad fruit. Rather, let the fault lie sorely upon this ignoble traitor. For she was rotten from the beginning, and no attempt to correct her was met with success. It is a trick of fate, my King, not a slight to your honor."_

"_Be that as it may, Yorihime of house __Watatsuki__," her father said acidly. "The fact that this fruit was born from my tree cannot be ignored."_

"_Then, oh King, let us do what one does with bad fruit appears, and prune the tree. Remove this blight, and let it trouble your eyes no more."_

_The girl's fingers clenched. She found herself wishing that her hands were free and wrapped around that daughter of a velmick's neck. _

"_As much as it pains my soul to admit it, you are correct," her father said."After all, the law is quite clear. Treachery of this kind can be met with only one punishment. Death."_

_This pronouncement was met with a chorus of whispers from those gathered. He cleared his throat, silencing the crowd._

"_However," he continued. "She has drunk the Elixer of Immortality. She cannot be killed, which means that what small redemption she might have gained from dying like a Lunarian is also lost to her."_

"_Nothing lost by trying," the hated voice suggested._

"_Silence," her father said heavily. "This is not a matter served by mockery." He sighed. "Well, as execution is denied her, there is but one thing we could do. It is not a punishment I would have chosen, but considering the circumstances it will serve. Yes, it will serve."_

_Here it came. The girl's muscles bunched up in anticipation. Eternal imprisonment. A permanent feature in the dungeon. Or perhaps she was to be dissected and the Elixir of Immortality drawn from her blood. It had the advantage of poetry, at least._

"_Exile," her father said at last. "You are hereby stripped of all titles, privileges and ties to both the Royal Family and the Lunarian people, and shall be cast out, sent to live out the rest of your miserable existence on Terra. Be queen of that dirt heap and its filthy natives, if they'll have you."_

_Again the court burst into excited babbling, over which the sound of self-satisfied snickering could be heard. As for the girl herself, she was struck numb. She was to be thrown away? Kicked out of the Lunarian society entirely, cursed to spend the rest of eternity among the backwater savages of Terra? To always stare up at the shining jewel of Luna burdened with the knowledge that never was to return?_

"_No!" she said, forgetting that she intended to remain silent. "Please, no! Forgive me, Father! I-"_

"_ENOUGH!" her father roared. "How dare you call me 'Father'? You forfeited that right of your own free will. You have no part of this family!"_

"_No!" she cried again. She tried to stand, but a hand grabbed her by the shoulder and…_

…shoved her forward. Kaguya stumbled but managed to keep her footing. She cast a reproachful glare at the rabbit soldier that had pushed her and called her a word that Tewi had taught her.

She, Mokou and Rumia were effectively captured and were now being led back to…somewhere. Logic dictated that they were being taken to some sort of dream simulation of the Lunarian Capital, but they could be headed toward a giant outhouse for all the sense this world was making.

The three of them were marching in a row, Kaguya in the front with Mokou bringing up the rear, in the middle of the platoon of rabbit soldiers. Their arms were bound tightly behind their backs, but that meant nothing. All three of them could slip their bindings with ease, but Mokou had insisted that they go without resistance.

Why, Kaguya couldn't fathom. Okay, granted, Mokou's father was leading the whole unpleasant parade. And okay, he was wearing a Lunarian officer's uniform, so there were probably loads of issues at play. But why couldn't they waste the rabbits and let Mokou resolve her problems with her old man directly, instead of meekly being led along like prisoners of war? And closer to the point, why was Kaguya going along with it?

To hell with this. She could worry about making it up to Mokou later. Which, of course, she had no intention of doing. She let her gaze casually flit over the neat rows of rabbits that surrounded them, picking out the best plan of attack. Her bound arms relaxed and her shoulders tensed, ready for the swift dislocating motion that would bring her arms to her front.

"I wouldn't try it," said a soft voice in her ear. "Wait until later."

Kaguya glowered over her shoulder at Rumia, who had sidled up to her. The lockpicker was wearing the same smug smile she had been wearing ever since Mokou's father had showed up. "And why not?" Kaguya hissed back. "This is stupid. We can take them."

"With the greatest of ease," Rumia agreed. "But seeing who's leading this merry caravan of travelers and what he's wearing, odds are we're being led to someplace of horrible significance to both of you. That means the center of your subconsciouses. Like I said, think of it as an escort."

"I'll think of it as a bunch of armed soldiers led by my rejected suitor taking us prisoner, thank you very much," Kaguya said in a cool voice. "And what are you smiling about?"

"Oh, nothing important," Rumia said brightly. "It's just that we're being marched along by a bunch of armed soldiers led by your rejected suitor! Who, it should be mentioned, is also Mokou's father, and from what I can pick out so happens to be an essential linchpin on your mutually murderous rivalry. No matter what happens when we get to wherever we're going, it promises to be very…entertaining."

One of the soldiers smacked the back of Rumia's head. "No talking among the prisoners!" she snapped.

"Yes Ma'am," Rumia chirped. She favored Kaguya with a conspiratol smile and a wink. "I hear and obey."

Kaguya shot her a venomous and looked away. But as she did so, she caught a glimpse of Mokou, who was marching silently along behind Rumia.

She had never seen her rival like that before. Mokou wore the look of someone heading toward her mother's execution. Her face, normally pale as it was, was now completely without color, and her eyes were wide and empty. Her gaze was fixed unmoving on the back of her father.

Kaguya wanted to yell at her for letting what was obviously a fake affect her so much, but then she remembered her own break down upon realizing that they had wandered onto the Moon. Like it or not, she wasn't one to throw stones for letting this place get to her.

"Eyes forward!" snapped the same soldier that had hit Rumia. She gave Kaguya's shoulder another rough shove.

Kaguya hissed but obeyed. Up ahead, Fujiwara no Fuhito continued to stride forward, completely heedless of the drama that was occurring behind his back. Kaguya couldn't help but wonder who he held the most ill intentions toward: herself or his daughter.

As much as she disliked the smirking youkai, Kaguya had to admit that Rumia was right about one thing. Whatever awaited them at the end of their journey promised to be very, very interesting.

...

Mokou slouched forward, head down, concentrating on nothing except putting one foot in front of the other. She stared at her feet as they tread over the Moon's surface, adding her footprints to those left by those marching in front of her, only to have them stomped out of existence by the feet of those who followed behind. All the while, she did her best to keep from thinking.

…_Left-Right-Left-Right-Left-Right…_

Her father was here. Her father had come. The dream had sent Father to them. And wearing a Lunarian uniform, no less. Before, the dream had certainly done its best to make their life difficult. Encountering her brother and his scornful words had been a slap to the face. But this was a whole new level of cruelty. This was nothing less than a coldly sadistic nightmare.

…_Left-Right-Left-Right-Left-Right…_

What was strange was that she had been expecting to run into Father sooner or later. After the thing with her murdered brother, it was only inevitable. And during that overlong boat ride, she had often passed the time by mentally preparing herself for the meeting. She had rehearsed the encounter in her mind, practiced what she would say, fed him scornful lines to spit in her direction and readied her nerves to receive them.

But when he had finally showed up, the only acknowledgement she had received from him had been a moment of disgusted disregard. And, after ensuring that she and her companions were properly restrained, he had paid no attention to her at all.

…_Left-Right-Left-Right-Left-Right…_

She could be telling herself not to let it get to her. After all, it wasn't as if her father were actually there. But what her brain said and how her body reacted where two wholly different things. As far as her heart was concerned, Father was back. And he was most displeased with her.

…_Left-Right-Left-Right-Left-Right…_

So deep she was in her self-loathing ruminations that she didn't notice that everyone had stopped until she nearly walked right into Rumia's back. She blinked and looked up.

There, sitting by itself in an otherwise empty field of moondust, was a magnificent palace. It seemed to be woven from crystalized spiderwebs and set with sparkling white gemstones. Graceful turrets rose along the perimeter, and in the center a single shining tower rose high into the air, shining like a jewel-encrusted spike of ivory. Though she had never been there, Mokou recognized it at once. After all, she had seen pictures of it plenty of times during her frequent trips to Eientei.

"Palace Houraisan," she heard Kaguya mutter darkly. "How typical. Not to mention predictable."

"Home sweet home, eh?" Rumia chimed in. "Though I can't help but notice that they seemed to have forgotten the whole Lunar Capital." She snickered. "Well, well, well. Getting a little impatient, are we?"

"Shut up," Kaguya hissed at her.

"What? I wasn't talking to you."

"I said no talking!" said one of the near-identical rabbit soldiers. She drew her hand back to strike Rumia yet again.

Rumia shot her a look of annoyance. "Yeah, you're second on my list," she said. "Right after tall, dark and sulky up there."

The rabbit slapped Rumia, or at least she tried to. Rumia simply ducked the blow and rammed the top of her head into the rabbit's stomach.

There was a distinct metallic _clang _and Rumia staggered back. The rabbit, however, was unaffected.

Rumia blinked in surprise. Then her smirk returned. "Oh, cheating again, are we? That's not at all authentic, you know. What's wrong? Lost your appetite for playacting?"

The rabbit struck her across the jaw, this time with a closed fist. The force of the impact spun Rumia around so that she landed facefirst in the dust.

Mokou watched as the lockpick-for-hire twist her head to the side and spit out blood and dust. "Okay, check that," she muttered. "Welcome to the top of the list, bitch."

"Shut up," Mokou told her. "Stop fighting. Right now."

Rumia turned her neck so that she could look up at Mokou. "Why, afraid that I'll embarrass you in front of daddy?"

Mokou kicked her in the face.

Rumia's body was literally lifted right off the ground and sent sprawling back. There she lay, blood streaming from her nose and mouth. She blinked, and then turned her head to spit out something like looked a lot like a tiny but sharp tooth.

The rabbits moved to intervene in an instant. Two of them seized Mokou and pulled her back away from Rumia, while three others grabbed Rumia by the arms and hauled her back to her feet. As for Kaguya, she just watched the whole proceedings with a look of resigned annoyance on her face.

"Hey now," Rumia said as she was yanked away from Mokou. "That was uncalled for."

"No, it really wasn't," Kaguya said.

"When the hell did you start taking her side?"

"Silence!" screeched the rabbit that had grown so fond of hitting Rumia. She turned to her fellow soldiers. "Line them up!"

Mokou was jostled forward. Nearby, Kaguya and Rumia were likewise forced into position, until the three of them were standing side-by-side at the front of the procession.

Once they were lined up, Father turned around to face them. His dark eyes regarded them each in turn. Mokou cringed under his gaze, but he afforded her no more disdain than he did for Rumia and Kaguya.

"You," he said, "are standing before Palace Houraisan, the ancestral home of the Lunarian Royal Family."

"No," Kaguya said. "Really? I never would have guessed."

"You know, I can't help but notice that you've stopped freaking out about this place," Rumia said.

"Hmmm, well, let's just say that this is getting a little old. Besides, after the velmick, all this really doesn't impress."

The rabbits shoved them roughly from behind, shutting them up. Mokou remained silent.

Father continued as if they had not spoken. "As prisoners of the Lunarian Empire, you will be taken into custody to await judgment for your crimes."

"Yeah, yeah," Kaguya muttered. "I've heard that before."

"During that time, any attempt to resist will be punished. Severely. Do you understand?"

"Sure, whatever," Rumia yawned.

"Shut. Up," Mokou hissed.

Rumia gave her a sidelong look. She snickered and rolled her eyes, but said nothing forward.

"Good," Father said shortly. He turned away, toward the palace's entrance. He signaled, and the pure white doors unfolded like a curtain.

"Wait," Mokou said suddenly. "Father."

A heavy silence fell. Kaguya and Rumia turned their heads to stare at Mokou expectantly, Rumia's smirk never leaving her blood-covered face.

"Father, please. May…May we speak?"

Father ignored her. He strode forward, heading into the palace. The procession followed, moving the prisoners forward.

"I'll take that as a 'no'," Rumia remarked as they walked through the entrance. "Oh, by the way, I really hope you snap out of your funk soon. Because the next few hours promise to be great fun, and I'd hate for you to miss it."

Mokou slowly turned her head to look at Rumia. There was murder in her eyes. "Lay one hand on my father," she said emotionlessly, "and I will kill you myself."

Rumia glanced around in interest. The inside was just as spectacular as the exterior, with flawless ivory walls, a line of floating golden orbs glowing overhead and a floor that seemed to be made from solid silver. "Hate it break it to you, sweetie," she said as they marched through Kaguya's childhood home, "but your father's been worm food for a really long time. That fellow's just a manifestation of your daddy issues. If you want to get out of here and back into Gensokyo, I suggest you do yourself a favor and get over them."

"One finger," Mokou promised. "You lay so much as one finger on him…"

Rumia favored her with a bloody grin. "Well, at least I was right about this being entertaining."

Suddenly the rabbits leading Rumia jerked her to one side, forcing her down a hallway to the left. A second later Mokou's own escorts did the same, pushing her to the right. Kaguya paused to watch, but the remainder of the soldiers gave her a hard shove, down the main hallway.

"Well ladies, looks like this is where we part ways," Rumia said. "Have fun now. See you during the inevitable jailbreak. Oh, and Princess? Give my love to the family."

"Fuck you," Kaguya hissed.

"I love you too," Rumia laughed. She was then smacked in the face. "Ow! What is it with you and…"

Mokou ignored them. Her head fell and she let herself be led forward, down toward wherever the dream wanted her.

...

Kaguya watched as the dream's representations of Lunarian soldiers wrestled the two people she liked the least away from her and escorted them to places unknown. A part of her told her that, despite her ill feelings toward Mokou and Rumia, they were still essential to her escape from Rin Satsuki's mind. As such, she really should start fighting back, Mokou's idiotic protests be damned.

She didn't.

There was a reason for her lack of resistance, one that had nothing to do with Mokou's wishes. During the march here, she had been putting the pieces together in her head. Ever since they had arrived, the dream's attacks on them fallen into two variations: brute force (the Zerg and the sailors) or mental and/or emotional abuse (the repeated appearances of their families). Sometimes it resorted to a combination of the two, such as the velmick and the riot back at Kamakura. But given where they were and the direction they were marching, Kaguya had a feeling that what awaited her wasn't going to involve a great deal of physical torment. In fact, seeing how the dream had no inhibitions about digging deep into her cavernous memory for inspiration, she had a pretty good idea exactly which little piece of her past she was going to have to relive.

There were just a few problems with that. First, she now saw it coming. Sure, while being suddenly transported to the Moon had sent her into a state of shock, it had long since passed. Having to face down a velmick tended to put certain things in perspective.

Furthermore, while she often reverted back to the person she had been when reliving her past in her dreams, that was neither here nor now. She was, for all intents and purposes, wide awake. She had more than a century of emotional growth and change since the original event. Things had happened to her since then, things that had reshaped her, physically, mentally and spiritually. In short, she was not the same person she had been.

She almost pitied the dream, having to resort to such an obsoleted tactic. But in the end, it was limited by its own nature. Her last few days before her exile had been tremendously traumatic, and so it made for excellent raw material in which to shape nightmares from. However, it was not dealing with the same Kaguya that it usually did. She wasn't Kaguya Houraisan, the youngest princess of the Lunarian people, anymore. She was no longer driven by a desperate need to prove her worth to her father. And she certainly was no longer bowed by the culture that had raised her. She was now Kaguya Houraisan, Princess of the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, Ringleader of the Court of Conflict, proud resident of Gensokyo and wholly unimpressed by threats of death or disgrace. Mokou might be so weak that she fell apart every time she was confronted by a piece of her sordid past, but Kaguya was made from sterner stuff. Now that she had time to think about it, she had come to the conclusion that having her dark memories paraded before her was not a form of torture, but rather an opportunity to redress old grievances. It was a shame that it was all an illusion, but she'll take what catharsis she could get.

And so, without the need for encouragement, she strode forward, outpacing her captors. If the soldiers were at all surprised at the lack of shame being exhibited by their prisoner, they showed no sign and continued to march smartly behind her.

As she doubted she would get the chance once the show started, Kaguya sidled up to Mokou's father. "Hey," she said. "Look, I know you're trying to impress with that whole 'strong, silent type' veneer you've got going, but I really got to tell you: it just makes you look like you're fighting off some really nasty constipation."

He didn't answer. He didn't even acknowledge her presence.

Kaguya grinned. "Or maybe you're just trying to rein in your burning lust for me. That's what started this whole mess, isn't it? You wanted some of this so badly, you even went on a great and dangerous adventure to fulfill my impossible requests. You did know that it was a waste of time, right? You'd think the 'impossible' bit would be kind of a tip-off. But that's men for you. Always thinking with your dicks. And look where _that's _gotten you."

"Shut up, scum," he said, his eyes focused directly ahead.

Kaguya's eyes widened in delight. "Oh, hey! You can say things besides marching orders. And you sound a little tense…what was your name again? Fu…Fu…miko? Diko? Burrito? Sorry, they all blur together after awhile. But still, this must really be eating you up. I mean, okay, I know you're not actually real, but I've been known to do a little roleplaying here and there. So anyway. Having both me _and _your estranged daughter here at the same time? The woman you couldn't have and the daughter you couldn't keep. That's got to be a blow to the old pride, now isn't-"

He slapped her.

Or at least he tried to. The unexpected blow might have been quick enough to take a normal person by surprise, but Kaguya was one of the two best unarmed combatants in Gensokyo, perhaps even in existence. She had conditioned herself to give and take life-ending blows on a regular basis for several centuries. As such, the slap was not so much a single unavoidable strike as it was a series of still pictures, to be studied and responded to at Kaguya's leisure.

However, her hands were still bound behind her back, and there was no time to slip her bonds. Of course, she could always dodge, but where was the satisfaction in that? And so her arms came up over her head, shoulder joints popping out and back into place to give her the needed flexibility, just in time to stop the swinging hand with her forearm. It hurt, of course, with her shoulders screaming at the impact, but Kaguya paid it no notice at all.

"Too slow," Kaguya said. Then she clasped her fingers and bopped him on the nose.

It was like punching the side of a mountain. Kaguya's hands rebounded back, causing her to stagger.

"Wha-" she started to say, but then she was interrupted by several loud, popping sounds.

The next thing Kaguya knew, she was slumped on her knees and bleeding from numerous small wounds in her torso. It was not until several hands grabbed her under her armpits and yanked her back up that she figured out what had happened. The rabbit soldiers had evidently decided to stop hanging back and moved to intervene by shooting her full of holes. Now, that hadn't been fair at all.

And, as the tiny, burning holes closed, she figured out why she hadn't been able to hurt Mokou's father. It was just like when Rumia had headbutted that rabbit in the stomach. The dream was cheating again. Although annoying, it did give her some measure of satisfaction that it had to resort to such tactics in order to keep up with her.

As the spots cleared away from her vision, she saw Mokou's father glaring at her with hate-filled eyes. She smiled and opened her mouth to say something scathing.

Instead of letting her, he crossed over to her and grabbed her by her shirt's collar and brought her up until they were eye-to-eye.

"It's just as well that I failed," he told her. "It saved me from being trapped with a dyke like you."

Kaguya's eyes popped wide open. "What," she said, "did you just call-"

He slapped her again. This time it connected, and Kaguya was sent sprawling back into the rabbits gathered around her.

"No more speaking," he said. "It's not my place to punish you anyway. That privilege is currently held by your father. As I understand it, he's looking forward to seeing you."

Well, that confirmed most of her suspicions. Kaguya quickly stood back up and shook off the hands holding her. "Is he now?" she snapped. "Well, I'm looking forward seeing him too. Oh, by the way, you know my friend Rumia? Apparently she wants to kill you."

"Is that right?" he said without the slightest hint of concern.

"Yeah, but I think she's going to be disappointed. Because I'm first in line now."

The smile he favored her with told her exactly how worried he was. Kaguya felt burning rage flame up inside of her, but quickly beat it down. If this was really how the original Mr. Fujiwara had been like, than perhaps Mokou's endless cycle of vengeance was a small price to pay for rejecting him as a suitor.

Mokou's father motioned, and the rabbits grabbed Kaguya's arms and forced them back behind her back. Of course, they didn't bother with loosening her bonds, resulting in her healing shoulder ligaments being torn anew.

"Tie her doubly so," he said. "I don't want a repeat performance."

They complied, this time harnessing her elbows together.

"The helmet, please," he said.

"Helmet?" Kaguya said. Then she remembered. "Oh crap, are you really-"

A heavy eyeless helmet was shoved down over her head, completely blocking her sight. She fumed, furious that she had forgotten that little detail. This was going to complicate her plans of payback.

A shove to her back, and they were moving again. Beneath the all-concealing mask of the helmet, Kaguya gritted her teeth. She wasn't quite sure how, but one thing was for certain: this time, things were going to be different, restraints be damned.

Though there was one silver lining to be found. At least this time around they had let her keep her hair. That was a plus. Defiantly challenging an empire just didn't carry the same weight while bald, at least not for her.

...

Far from Mokou's defeated slouch or Kaguya's angry stomping, Rumia's pace was calm and carefree. She willingly allowed herself to be led forward, all the while humming a happy song while smiling cheerfully. In fact, her manner was more suggestive to someone making a routine visit to the market rather than being taken prisoner and led to her probable execution.

At least, that how it was until Kaguya and Mokou were well out of sight. Then she stopped short and said, "Yeah, I think that's far enough."

Her resistance was rewarded with, yes, yet another slap. "You will keep moving and-"

"Remain silent," Rumia finished for her. She sounded bored. "Yeah, I don't think so."

The rabbits that had been assigned to guard her immediately cocked their weapons. The one that had been striking her said, "You have five seconds to obey or we will be forced to shoot you."

"Is that so." Rumia laughed. "Oh man, now we're just getting silly. Come on, don't you remember what I did to your worm?" She shook her head. "How about this: you let me go, right here and right now, and I won't completely thrash the place on my way out."

"Five…" the rabbit said, her voice filled with warning.

"Four," Rumia filled in for her. She bared her spiked teeth.

"…three…"

"Two."

"One!" the rabbit cried, and she signaled for the others to start firing.

But before she could finish her order, Rumia's shadow shivered and lost shape. Multiple appendages shot out and spread across the floor, each one growing spindly fingers that seized a rabbit's shadow by the neck. The rabbits started choking and gasping. Most of them dropped their weapons to clutch at their throats. Others tried to fire but their shots went wild.

And then they floated up into the air, held aloft by an unseen force. One-by-one, the bodies of the Lunarian soldiers started to blacken, beginning from their necks and working its way to consume the rest of their flesh. Their bodies shriveled like months'-old corpses, until that's exactly what they looked like. The force holding them up released its grip, allowing their wasted bodies to clatter to the floor like so much dead wood.

In the end, there was only one rabbit left, the one for which Rumia held a special antagonism. She stared at her companions' demise, her arm still outstretched with the order to fire.

Rumia wiggled her fingers, and the ropes holding her hands together fell away. She held up her hands. Instead of the normal, humanlike fingers she had possessed before, in their place were curving metallic talons, each one sharper than a saber.

"Now, I know this is kind of a pointless question, but you know that feeling you get when you've really, really fucked up, and you're just starting to realize just how much it's going to bite you in the ass?" Rumia asked conversationally. Her sword floated up from where it had landed to her deadly grasp. "Because you should be feeling something very similar right about now." There was the sound of something ripping, and two massive leathery wings spread from her shoulder blades and snapped open. **"That is, of course, if you were capable of emotion. But I suppose I shouldn't hold your limitations against you."**

The rabbit turned and ran.

...

Mokou's entourage didn't take her far. In fact, they only went as far as halfway down the hallway before stopping in front another one of those curtain-doors. This they opened and roughly shoved Mokou through.

Mokou stumbled but managed to keep her feet. She turned, expecting her guards to following her in, but instead they merely slid the door shut behind her, sealing her inside.

So, imprisonment it was. A little anti-climatic, seeing how she had been expecting something a bit more painful. The thought didn't encourage as much as it would someone else. She was used to pain, and she had been nursing a faint hope that her father would be conducting the interrogation. At least it would have given her the opportunity to talk with him, even if the conversation was awful.

With a sigh, she turned around to see what kind of room she had been stuck in and immediately froze. She was home.

It was her shack, the one she had set up on the border of the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. The walls were all boards of uneven sizes and sloppily nailed together. Bits and pieces of trash lay strewn about the dirt floor, and the furniture consisted of a rough-wood bedframe and table that she had put together herself and a cabinet with a broken leg that she had salvaged from the rabbit tribes' rubbish heap.

Mokou stood stock-still, her eyes flitting from one end of the eerily familiar scene to the other. While she shouldn't be surprised, given that they had discovered Kaguya's bedroom at the end of a rock tunnel, her shack's sudden appearance here out of all places was rather unexpected.

When nothing jumped out to attack her, Mokou moved to investigate. Her shack had two windows, neither of which now displayed anything but a black void and both of which refused to open. She tried to smash them open with her elbow, and received a bruised elbow for her trouble. As for the cabinet, it held nothing but her chipped and cracked dishes.

The black void beyond the windows aside, so far things were looking fairly normal. Mokou hesitated, and then tugged aside a few loose boards from the wall, revealing a hidden alcove. There, sitting on a square stone block, was the sword of house Fujiwara. But unlike the blade that had been confiscated by the rabbits and the one currently worn by her father, this one was broken and partially rotten in the handle, just like the actual article back home. Which, as she realized upon reflection, meant that there were now three replicas of the same sword in the palace. In her opinion, that was just overdoing things, even for this place.

Mokou replaced the boards and returned to her investigation of the room. It didn't take long to establish that yes, the wooden walls and ceiling were quite fireproof and indestructible as the windows. And digging through the dirt only revealed Palace Houraisan's silver floor.

So, she was going nowhere for the time being. Mokou sighed and sat down on the bed to wait. Sooner or later, Father would be by. The dream had yet to miss a chance to torment her about her past sins, and surely it would not pass this one up. He would come.

And then they would talk.

...

Memory is an odd thing, and the way it chooses to work is something that cannot be predicted. Why, for example, does it choose to let important details of the last week slip away, while it is still able to recall irrelevant events from early childhood with perfect clarity? Why are three witnesses able to, with perfect honesty, give three contradicting accounts of the same event?

For immortals, the situation becomes even more complicated, especially for those for whom nature had never intended to live forever. As one grows older, their perception of time changes, and periods that had once seemed to last forward seem to flit by without notice. For immortals, this can mean entire decades will pass by without notice once sufficient time has passed. And at the same time, it becomes more and more difficult to record important information, so that old friends, family and perhaps even personal identity becomes lost in the long trek of the centuries.

Fortunately, Kaguya Houraisan (and by association, Fujiwara no Mokou as well) were, for the most part, inoculated against such drawbacks. For one, her power over eternity, which had served as the base of the Hourai Elixir, functioned as exactly that: the preservation of an object in a single moment of time. Of course, there were slight changes. She could acquire new skills, allow her personality to develop, develop her muscles and improve her overall physical wellness. Eirin had seen to that. But even so, Kaguya and Mokou were spared the worst of the drawbacks immortality had to offer because rather than having their lifespan expanded into infinity, they simply continued to exist, partially frozen in time. Of course it wasn't perfect. Given how routine Kaguya's life had become, there were many, many years that had become lost in her mind. And the passage of a year no longer meant much at all. But she was at least able to live each day more-or-less normally.

It also meant that she was able to remember specific events, especially ones that had made a significant enough impression on her. And while it had taken place over a thousand years ago, being put on trial by the Lunarian court and banished had made a most significant impression.

Thus far, this recollection was nearly identical to her recollections. The bound arms, the all-concealing helmet, the tramping feet of the Lunarian soldiers as she was led to her judgment, it was all the same. Granted, there were one or two differences in addition to the lack of her shaved head. For one, Mokou's father was going to be present, something that was a bit odd but not something she couldn't deal with. For another, she was not dreading the trial. In fact, she was downright eager for it to begin.

Oh yes. This was going to be fun.

She heard the shuffling sound of Lunarian doors sliding open and was greeting by the babbling voices of the Lunarian court, just as she had before. Even though she had not actually seen the court during the original event, she could still picture it in her mind: a tall, square room, with the walls curving into a dome at the top. Three levels had been cut into the white crystal of the walls, each on top of the other like the layers of a cake and encircling the whole room. When the room was in use, the member of the court would fill these walkways and lean over the railings to view the events proceeding below. Kaguya herself had taken part in many a court session in her time, squeezed among her relatives, the Lunarian nobles and military officers while doing her best not to be bored out of her mind.

As for her father, the High King of the Lunarians, he stood apart from the rabble, upon a floating platform made from a silvery liquid metal that would change shape depending on his wishes. Most of the time it resembled an overturned teardrop with a flattened top. It was on this amorphous throne that he had stood while stripping Kaguya of everything she had held dear.

She was already running the calculations through her head and decided that she could be free from her bonds and on that platform before anyone had the chance to kill her. And once there, with her so close to the High King, they would lose all motivation to try. Of course, that was assuming that these simulacrums acted as their real-world counterparts would have, but Kaguya was flexible. She could adjust to any surprises.

As before, a rough hand took her by the shoulder and shoved her to her knees. She complied without resistance. Here it came. Soon her father would begin to speak. And as she could remember his words perfectly, she would be able to mouth them along with him.

The voices quieted down, just as they had done before. And, just like before, the deep, sonorous voice of her father boomed through the chamber.

"Scum," he said.

Kaguya, who had been mouthing a different word entirely, jerked up in surprise. What had happened to "criminal"?

"Trash," her father continued. "Defiler of the worst kind. The first time you appeared before us, it was to answer for your crimes against your family and your people. But apparently you were not content with those disgraces and decided to drag yourself your disgusting self through filth as well."

Kaguya sighed as she realized what was going on. So this wasn't going to be so much a rerun as it was a sequel. Disappointing, as it rendered many of her prepared speeches obsolete. But still, she could adapt. "And how would that be, father mine?" she called, her voice dripping with scorn. "Does my life as a Gensokian displease you? I fail to see why, as it was your wish that I make my new dwelling place there."

A wave of surprised murmurs swept through the room. Kaguya smiled to herself, beneath her helmet. Why, they were asking themselves, did she dare interrupt the High King?

Indeed, her father seemed to be harboring those same thoughts. "How dare you speak without leave?" he bellowed. "How dare you?"

Kaguya rolled her eyes and laughed. "Blah, blah, blah. A thousand years, and the same old, same old. Hey. Dad. You kicked me out, remember? I'm not a Lunarian anymore. Your laws and culture don't mean crap to me. So drop the pretensions and cut to the chase."

Her open defiance birthed a whole new bout of whispering, this time accompanied by an angry shout or two. Kaguya grinned to herself. She had been right, this was fun.

Her father, however, simply said, "As you wish." Though he did not raise his voice, the crowd quieted immediately. Kaguya had to give the man credit. He did have presence.

"You are here," he said, "to answer for your crimes against nature."

"Again?" she said. "Been there, done that. I drank the elixir, we all know that."

"Not that," he growled. "I speak of your…perversity."

Kaguya blinked, though no one could see it. "Come again?"

"With your soul corrupted beyond repair, you next set to work defiling your body. Is there no depth you will not sink to?"

"Okay," Kaguya muttered. She took a deep breath. "Look, I know this big, self-righteous speeches with a whole bunch of adjectives were always par the course for you, but it's getting kinda wearisome, not to mention _really _cheesy. So what say you talk plainly for once in your life and tell me what the hell you're going on about? Are you referring to-"

"Yes," the king said. "Your shameless defiance to the natural order of things by lying with women!"

Kaguya choked. A bit of saliva got caught in her windpipe, making her next few words a sputtering cough. "Wh-h-hat? Are y-y-you fucking _serious?"_

…

The door to Mokou's cell (house? Room?) slid open. She straightened up, hope written all over her face.

One of the rabbit soldiers was standing in the entrance. "Fujiwara no Mokou?" she said.

"Yes?" Mokou said.

"You have a visitor." With that, the soldier stepped to the side and stood at attention.

Well, here it came. And much earlier than she had expected. Mokou took a deep breath, straightened her clothes and stood up.

However, the person who entered was not her father. It wasn't even a member of her family. However, it was someone Mokou knew well, and was perhaps the only living person she was genuinely fond of.

"Keine!" she blurted out in happy surprise. She ran across the room to embrace the silver-haired woman.

Mokou had known Keine Kamishirasawa ever since the latter had been a little girl. Keine had rescued Mokou from an extremely uncomfortable situation and Mokou, first out of gratitude and now out of friendship, had looked after her ever since. She had even ended up saving Keine's life a couple of years later and more-or-less raised her for a few years after that. And though Keine was now a grown woman who lived in the Human Village and had a life of her own, the two still remained in touch, with Keine coming by to visit at least once a month.

Of course, the fact that Keine's half-youkai parentage meant that she was something called a Were-Hakutaku, with side-effects including sprouting horns from the top of her head and taking on a more bestial nature every full moon, would explain why she sought refuge with Mokou whenever the change fell upon her, but they were always happy to see each other.

Mokou had not expected to see Keine here; though, upon reflection, she wasn't sure why not. Perhaps given the state of her dreams, she had expected to encounter the bits from her past that made her miserable, and Keine was one of the few bright spots in her life of violence and hate. But now that she was here, she wasn't going to complain.

"Hey!" Keine said happily as Mokou seized her up and swung her around. "Careful! I don't heal like you do."

Mokou's grin expanded at the old joke. "Maybe not, but in this place, who knows?" She put a hand on Keine's shoulder and stepped back. "Man, I didn't think I'd see you here, especially not in this part! Everything's been so crappy lately that-"

Her sentence cut off as rationality caught up to her. "Wait," she said, her brow furrowing in suspicion. "Are you the real Keine? I mean, did this Rin Satsuki person eat you too and send you here, or are you just another part of this dream?"

The smile on Keine's face wavered. "Uh…the latter, I'm afraid."

Mokou stared. "Okay. Well, are you here to torment me by telling me how you've always hated me and wish I would just disappear from your life?"

"No!" Keine said, her cheeks pale with shock. "I would never…Mokou, you're my oldest friend! How could you think such a thing?"

Mokou relaxed a bit. "Sorry, it's just this damned dream screwing with me at every turn. You start to expect everything to turn out bad."

"I guess I understand," Keine said, her face softening. "But not every dream needs be a nightmare."

"News to me," Mokou said with a bitter chuckle. She thought for a moment. "So…if you're not the real Keine, and you're not here to make my time even more miserable, are you…" She seized upon a happy possibility, "…kind of like the compilation of all my memories of Keine?"

Keine tapped her lower lip as she considered this possible explanation. "You know, I think that's probably the best way to put it." She took off that ridiculous hat she always wore. Immediately two curving horns pushed their way up through her hair. "If you like, I can look like this, since this is how I always am when I come by to see you."

Mokou's smile returned. "Well, hey. If that's what it is, I'll take it."

She gave Keine another quick hug and then took her by the hand. "Come on in," she said. "Place is a wreck, but then, it always is. Leave it to the dream to get at least that part right."

"I can see," Keine said. She gingerly sidestepped a small of rags that looked like a rat's nest. "It's a good thing you're immune to disease, because otherwise someone could use you as an incubator."

Mokou laughed, which felt surprisingly good. "Come on," she said as she hopped onto the bed and stretched out her long legs. "Have a seat."

Once Keine had sat, Mokou said, "So, how come you're different from all the other dream people I've met so far? Because they all act like these blank shells that just do whatever the dream programs them to do. But you act like the actual Keine."

"Is that really so surprising? Think about it. How many living people do you actually know? I don't mean were introduced to, but actually see and interact with on a regular basis?"

Mokou frowned. "Well, there's you, of course. And Kaguya-"

"Who is already here in the flesh. Metaphorically speaking."

"Right. And…" Mokou shrugged. "Okay, I guess that makes sense. You're the only person I really know and can talk to, so you're the only one that gets a real personality."

"That's a good way of putting it," Keine said. "You're better at this than you think."

Mokou shrugged again. To her, the simplest answer was usually the correct one. Keine was the only person she had been able to truly confide with since her rivalry with Kaguya had taken off, and she had figured out Keine's "affliction" the very moment they had met, during a time when it had been known to two other people. They knew each other secrets and thus could be fully honest with one another, which they always were. So if anyone in this crazy world would be developed enough in her mind to actual like a normal person, it would be her.

"So what brings you here?" Mokou asked. "I mean, not that I'm not happy to see you, but it can't be just to cheer me up."

"Did it?"

"Well, yeah! But, even so…"

Keine nodded. She looked troubled. "It's not, unfortunately. I'm here to give you a warning."

"A warning?" Mokou sat up, her guard rising. "On behalf of whom?"

"Yourself, of course," Keine said. "Who else?"

Mokou settled back down. "Well, this has gotten metaphysically bizarre," she muttered. "Again. So by me, I'm guessing that you mean my subconscious. The same thing that's been making my life something of a hellish experience."

"Don't be too hard in it," Keine said. "It's limited by what it is."

"Then why'd it send you instead of just warning me in person?"

Keine cleared her throat. "Ah, Mokou? This _is _warning you in person."

Mokou sighed. "Fine, fine. Okay, let's skip that part before I get a headache. So, what exactly is this warning? Because if it's more mind games-"

"It isn't," Keine said quickly. "It's about your…travelling companion."

"Eh?" Mokou frowned. "Which one?"

"Rumia Yagami. You shouldn't trust her."

That got a bark of surprised laughter from Mokou. "Wait, what? Seriously? I already don't trust her! In fact, I'd ditch her in a second if I wasn't sure I didn't need her to get out of this hellhole."

"You don't," Keine said. "Need her, I mean. Get rid of her."

"Why?" Mokou said in befuddlement. She had no problem with those instructions, but she was confused as to why her memories of Keine would be so adamant about them. "What is she?"

"I…don't know," Keine said, squirming uncomfortably. "The dream doesn't know. It's not like anything it, or you, has ever encountered."

That got Mokou's attention. She already had a suspicion that Rumia was more than the lockbreaking youkai for hire that she claimed to be, and it looked like she was getting a definite confirmation. "How do you mean?"

Keine shrugged. "It's…we…felt it the moment it came in here. She feels…wrong."

"Well, yeah," Mokou said. "She is a trespasser from her own little dream world. So of course she would."

"That's not what I mean. It's Rumia herself. She…" Keine scowled at the floor. "Okay, this is a bit awkward, but do you remember the velmick?"

Mokou closed her eyes and took a deep breath before answer. "Yes. I do. And thank you for that, by the way. We had such a lovely time together."

"Oh, stop," Keine said irritably. "You know that was from Kaguya's mind, not yours. And it was Rumia we wanted. You two were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Then why'd it go after all of us?" Mokou said, her voice thick with accusation.

Keine shrugged. "Again, you can thank Kaguya for that. It was made from one of her oldest nightmares and beefed up. The dream is determined. What it isn't is discerning, at least not then. Besides, it's a velmick."

"And now?"

"Circumstances necessitated a change in tactics. But we're getting off track. The point I'm trying to make is the reason why that worm hasn't bothered you since is because of Rumia. She killed it."

"Hey!" Mokou protested indignantly. "No she didn't! I did! Remember?" She created a small ball of flame (which gave her a brief twinge of satisfaction as it meant her powers had returned) and held it suspended between her hands. "Torched it from the inside out!

"I know! And it was very impressive. But Mokou, it wasn't real. It was a dream. You think it wouldn't be able to come back from that?"

Mokou extinguished the ball of flame. "And…?"

"And, it _would _have, but then she killed it!"

"Uh…No, she didn't," Mokou said, staring at the horned woman. "She was with me the whole time. I burned it, we buried what was left and never went back."

"I know, but she did it anyway! After you had left, it started regenerating, but…It was like she just _willed _it to die, and it did! It was helpless against her!"

This wasn't making any sense at all.

"Then why didn't she just do that from the beginning?" Mokou asked.

Keine shrugged. "Because she didn't want to risk hurting you too, maybe? Or she had to wait until she could do it without tipping you two of to what she really was? She did indicate as much, when she killed it. But either way, she isn't to be trusted. And there's something else about her, something you desperately need to know."

"Yeah?" Mokou cocked her head to one side. "And what might that be?"

And then something strange started to happen.

Compared to the strangeness Mokou had been encountering, the open defiance to the laws of reality and random shifts of setting, this really wasn't that bizarre. But, in its own way, it was just as worrying, perhaps even more so.

Keine's body had started to shake. It began as a small shiver before growing into a noticeable tremble and finally escalating to violent jerking. She clenched the side of the bed and squeezed her eyes shut. Her teeth bared in a grimace.

"Keine!" Mokou cried as scampered to her side. "Are you-"

"I'm fine," Keine managed to force out. Her voice was ragged with exertion. "This is just…really hard to dig up."

"What?"

Then Keine looked at her. Her face was pale and glistened with sweat, but her eyes were full of determination. "I got it," she whispered. "I got it, or some of it."

Mokou shook her head. "Got it? Got what?"

"Your memories, or at least as much as I…you…I could dig up. They're almost gone, but…it's enough to give you a start."

"A start? A start for what? Keine, what in the world are you going on about?"

Though it seemed to take an actual physical effort on her part, Keine whispered, "You know the name Rumia Yagami."

…

The rabbit soldier fled through the bone-white corridors of the palace, moving quicker than anything had a right to. Behind her, the shadows pursued, devouring everything in a field of black that consumed the walls, the floor and the ceiling. Within the darkness two malicious red eyes burned and low, mocking laughter followed the soldier every step of the way.

The hallway came to an end and a door opened to receive her. But before the rabbit could reach it, the shadows shot forward, passing around her to block off her path of escape. They bled all around her like ink, consuming every patch of space save for a square-foot of the silver floor for her to stand upon.

"**Nice try," **the trespasser purred. **"But you're not slipping away that easily. I still owe you for all those slaps." **

The rabbit turned toward the eyes. To her credit, while most people would be soiling themselves and screaming in raw terror, she wasn't so much as trembling. But then, given what she was and what she represented, this would be expected.

If only to further punctuate the point, the rabbit then started to change. Her body shot up, her limbs lengthening and gaining corded muscle. Ripping claws grew from her fingers and toes, and her mouth opened wide, displaying a horrific maw of razor-sharp teeth.

"**Yeah, no," **the trespasser said in a bored tone. A smoky black tentacle shot out and speared the morphing rabbit through the heart. Her transformation halted as she let out a gasp of surprise.

"**Come on. If the velmick didn't work, did you really expect this to? You're really gonna have to do better than that."**

With that, the tentacle retracted, dragging its half-rabbit, half-demon victim with it to disappear into the darkness. The shadows slithered forward, consuming the final patch of ground. And then there was nothing but the sound of crunching bones.

…

Kaguya was quite beside herself. Having entered this scenario expecting a retelling of her past only to receive something completely different, her mind was racing to recollect itself and come up with an appropriate response. But unfortunately, the implications of the accusation itself were preventing her from making any notable progress.

The problem was the source of the condemnation. And that wasn't to say that it was surprising that her father would be violently opposed to her homosexuality. Indeed, had he not exiled her for drinking the Hourai Elixir, he might have done it anyway had that bit of news reached his ears first. All traditions and customs aside, a princess with no purpose other than being married off as a political favor was useless if she didn't like men. But the problem was that this _wasn't _her father. All roleplaying aside, she had to face the facts that the person shouting at her was merely an extension of her own mind. As such, having to relive her trial and subsequent exile wouldn't have made her bat an eye, as it had been a traumatic experience, and while she had eventually become grateful that it had happened given how much she preferred living in Gensokyo, she still had issues with the people who had done it and their reasons for doing so. Some very strong issues. But instead, the nightmare was choosing to focus around her sexuality, something she found…troubling, to say the least.

After all, Kaguya had come to terms with her sexuality a long, long time ago. It had taken her a few years of living among Gensokyo to shake off the traditional moral code of her people, but the fact of the matter was that while being a lesbian may have been a shameful thing to the Lunarians, people in Gensokyo simply did not care. Sexual preferences among the youkai were so openly varied depending on species and origin that it just wasn't something worth commenting on. In fact, when she had finally come out and admitted it to her close acquaintances, their overall reaction had been something down the lines of, "Oh, so _that's _why you kept rejecting all those suitors! Wish you had mentioned it earlier, it would have saved everyone a whole lot of time." These days, most everyone knew, and while her occasional fling with the girls from the rabbit tribes weren't exactly smiled upon, it wasn't something that people commented upon other than sometimes rolling their eyes and saying, "Oh, that Kaguya. There she goes again." Not even Mokou, the person who had every reason to care, never made mention of it.

In short, the issue had been long resolved. She was a lesbian, she liked girls, and that was that. There was absolutely no reason for her subconscious to form a nightmare of this caliber around the subject. It was like trying to condemn her for liking boiled peas. And yet, here it was, doing just that. Did that mean that a part of her, deep down in the darkest recesses of her mind, the part that still clung to the ways of her upbringing, still felt the smallest twinge of discomfort?

Perhaps she was reading too much into this. After all, the dream had steadily escalated its attacks ever since they had arrived. Perhaps this was just its way of taking her off guard. But that also came with its fair amount of unfortunate implications, as to believe this to be would credit the dream with a certain amount of intelligence, creativity and, by association, sentience. That was _not _a possibility that comforted her at all.

She almost decided to forget roleplaying and call the dream out on its bullshit. After all, why should she take this if she didn't want to? But in the end, she decided to continue as she had. After all, if this _still_ was somehow an issue, what better time was there to confront it?

With that in mind, she inhaled deeply, let it out and said, "You're right. I'm gay. Congratulations on stating the overwhelmingly obvious. So?"

"So?" her father repeated, his voice dripping with scorn. "Did I just not explain the depths of your abomination?"

"Abomination is a noun, dad, not a verb or an adjective. And yeah, I know it's against the Lunarian laws and would be a horrible thing to find in one of your darling breeders, but ah, dad? You exiled me, remember? Stripped me of all my titles, privileges, rights and claims as a Lunarian and as a member of the Royal Family. I live in Gensokyo now. Got a card of citizenship and everything. And there, it's really not a big deal. At all. So what right do you have to judge me by your laws?"

"Exile though you may be," he growled, "we cannot let this disgusting display of perversity continue. And it seems that lying with women is not enough, but you defile yourself further by lying with animals!"

"Youkai," Kaguya corrected.

"Evil spirits!"

"Youkai," Kaguya said again. "And pretty damned civilized ones at that. And their culture is a damned sight more advanced than _yours!"_

The uproar her words created warmed Kaguya's heart. Everyone, everywhere was shouting in fury. Kaguya chuckled to herself. She was going to have to remember that one, should she ever be reunited with her father in for real.

And then, before the king could unleash more abuse, another voice rose about the others. "Oh, my King. Let not this vermin's words trouble your heart. And do not judge her too harshly. After all, had she been capable of finding a real man to love her, she would not have had to go searching among female animals for fulfillment."

A smatter of laughter mixed with the angry cries. As for Kaguya, she simply turned her head in the voice's direction. "Is that Yorihime I hear? Hey there, sweetie. I figured I'd be hearing your screechy voice sooner or later. How are you doing?"

"Just fine, _Princess _Kaguya. Enjoying the upper ranks of Lunarian nobility, along with my husband. Meanwhile, you spend your days living in a dungpit!"

Kaguya laughed. "Is that what you keep telling yourself? And I love the whole 'unable to find a man' thing. Come on, I had to invent an impossible quest just to keep them off me, remember? Oh, and did you forget that the only reason your loving husband so much as _looked _at you was to get back at me for rejecting him first?"

Yorihime started screeching, and the other voices rose up to join her. By now, Kaguya's grin was threatening to cut her face in half. Though she was now at least on neutral terms with the actual Yorihime, that had felt extremely good.

"SILENCE!" her father roared. "I will have no more of your open defiance-"

"No more? Dad, I'm just getting started. I've lived in Gensokyo for over a thousand years. Wanna see what I've learned?"

With that, Kaguya stood up.

When Kaguya had first started experimenting with mutable nature of the dream, she had found limited success in turning its fragile reality against it. Not enough to defeat the velmick, but it had been a start. And when it came down to it, as imitating as they were from an emotional standpoint, the Lunarian court was no velmick.

With that in mind, Kaguya snapped her bonds.

Immediately she heard the footsteps of three of the rabbit soldiers as they moved to interfere, no doubt counting on her lack of sight to cripple her. Apparently they had not been informed of the numerous times she had had to fight Mokou with her eyes gouged out.

As soon as they drew close enough, Kaguya dropped low and spun her leg out in a wide arc, sweeping all three of them off their feet. Two more immediately leapt in to help them. Kaguya slammed her helmeted head into the stomach of the first to come into range, grabbed her as she doubled over in pain, and shoved hard into the other, sending both of them tumbling back. Then, taking advantage of the few seconds she had just bought, she tore off the helmet.

Full credit had to be paid for the dream. The replica of the Lunarian court was perfect: not only matching her memory of the actual place but filling in many of the details she had forgotten. For one, her own recollections often left out that floating chandelier made from blue crystals, or the statues of her ancestors that lined the room. But she had no problem remembering all the people that filled the levels above, the rows of rabbit soldiers behind her, or her father in his royal robe and holding that silver staff topped with a spherical white gem as he stood on that floating teardrop of his. And, true to form, he looked furious.

Kaguya grinned. Good. Authenticity only made the roleplay easier. She saluted the scowling figure of her father and turned her attention back to the soldiers. After witnessing Kaguya take down their companions with such ease, they were now moving out of range, cocking their weapons in the process.

In response, Kaguya rolled back, landed in a crouch and swung both arms out in a cutting motion. Energy in every color of the rainbow shot out in a wave that slammed into the soldiers' middles and flung them back to crack against the hard stone of the wall. They did not get up.

The room filled again with voices, but instead of offended whispers, angry shouts or mocking laughter, the Lunarian nobility was now crying out in fear. Many of them were shoving against each other in a mad rush to get away. Even her father was looking a bit unsure of himself.

Dusting herself off, Kaguya stood and turned to face the High King. "But you know what?" she said. "I'm actually glad you brought me here. Because it gives me the opportunity to tell you something I've wanted to say for a long, long time."

The pandemonium quieted down, and those who remained stared down at her in interest. Kaguya could see Yorihime standing on the middle level, her face red with indignation. So she had stuck around. Good. Kaguya winked at her and blew her a kiss before turning her attention back to her father.

"Thank you, Father," she said to the king. "Thank you for putting me on trial. Thank you for rejecting me. Thank you for casting me out of the Lunarian society and exiling me to Earth. Because the life I've had since has been absolutely wonderful. I now have friends who actually like me for me without caring whose daughter I am. I get to make my own decisions. I get to live my own life. And please note that my life includes dying horribly at least two nights per week with full knowledge that there's going to be plenty of messy deaths waiting for me in the future. And yet, even that's preferable to the absolutely miserable existence I would have had living here." She clasped her hands behind her back and leaned forward. "Oh, and FYI? I was liking girls even when I was suffering under your thumb, so you really can't blame Earth's influence for that. Sorry daddy, this is how I was from day one."

"And thank you, Mr. Dream," she said, looking up at the ceiling. "I know this is breaking character and all, but even if this isn't really happening, it sure makes for great practice when I actually get the opportunity to do this for real."

She might have said more, but apparently the dream had finished with letting her get the best of it, because that was when every single remaining member of the Lunarian court drew a gun and fired.

There was too many for her to dodge, and soon Kaguya found herself leaking from hundreds of holes. She fell briefly into the darkness of death, and though the holes closed quickly and she returned to life in short order, it was just in time for her to see Mokou's father coming out of whatever corner he had been lurking in. Without a word, he drew his sword and brought it down on her neck, severing her head.

…

"You know the name Rumia Yagami."

Mokou sat up straight. "Hey, say what? You mean we've met, back in the real world?"

Though Keine still seemed to be struggling against some sort of internal resistance, she managed a brief nod.

"Okay," Mokou frowned. "I'm guessing you mean more than just running into each other in a tavern. I mean, I've been around for a long time, and so have many youkai. It's…not out of the realm of possibility that we've run into each other and just forgot about it."

"I don't mean 'met'," Keine said. "I mean you _know _her."

Mokou felt troubled. Now that Keine had introduced the concept, there was something about the name that tugged at her memories. But it whatever it was, it wasn't strong enough to come fully to the forefront.

"All right, you're gonna have to give me more than that," Mokou said. "I've known lots of people, and I've got centuries worth of memories to dig through. Can you narrow it down, at least?"

Keine sat up. "I've said…probably more than I should," she muttered.

Then she started towards the door. "I should go now," she said on her way out.

"Wait, hold on!" Mokou leapt after her and grabbed her by the shoulder. "You've got to give me more than that! If there's something more you can tell me to help me narrow it down, even if it's just a hint…"

Keine grimaced, almost as if in actual pain. But she said, "It's me. I'm the hint."

"What?"

"Think…think about how…how we first…."

"What, Christmas? When you pulled me out of that snowdrift?"

Keine shook her head. "I'm sorry, I can't say more…"

With that, she abruptly stormed toward the door.

"Keine, hold on a minute!" Mokou sat, following. "The dream sent you to warn me, right? Please, I just need a little more."

Keine paused by the door. She took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry. Good luck, Mokou. And remember what I said."

With that, the door slid open, and she and the ever-silent rabbit guard left.

"Wait!" Mokou called, but it was too late. They were gone. Mokou stared at the sealed door for a moment longer. Then, with a growl of frustration, she stomped back to the bed, kicking the table over on the way.

How was she supposed to figure this riddle out? She had met thousands, if not millions, of individuals in her lifetime. How could Keine expect her to recall one single name?

Well, Keine had said to focus on the way that met, so that at _least _cut out everything save for the last century. That did narrow it down quite a bit.

Mokou bit her lip as she scanned her memories after that, during her time at the orphanage Keine had grown up in. It had been two of the best years of her life, but she hated dwelling upon them, given how violently they had ended. She made a point of never discussing them with Keine, and Keine had never brought them up. It was difficult, dredging them up from the weight of decades that followed, but if she concentrated, more details could…

…wait…

…hold on…

…the orphanage…where she had met Keine…and…

The scab came off.

Rumia. Rumia. Fucking. Yagami.

But…that was impossible. That girl was…

Mokou's eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat. The pieces had finally fallen into place. It had been right there, in front of her nose the whole time, and she hadn't even noticed.

And then her pupils constricted.

Seconds later, the formerly indestructible cell that had been dressed up as her home was being consumed by a raging inferno, fueled by Mokou's righteous wrath. A second after that the door was blown outward, and Mokou was screaming through the hallways of Palace Houraisan. Flames surrounded her like armor, the wings of the Phoenix were spread wide, and her eyes were blazing as brightly as the Sun. Mokou the girl cowering in the presence of her long-dead father was gone. Mokou the Avatar of Vengeance was reborn.

But for once in her life, her fury was not directed at Kaguya. Bizarrely enough, it was her intention to protect her hated rival, protect her from someone she had once considered a friend. She just hoped against hope that she wasn't too late.

…

Resurrecting from decapitation was always an unpleasant experience, because for some damned reason the resurrection itself always decided to happen before her new head had finished reforming itself and she had to endure a few extra painful moments as her skull finished shaping.

True to form, this instance was just as uncomfortable, though something was very different. Apparently the dream had not finished being a pain in the ass and deigned that instead of her body growing a new head, it was her body that was chosen for regeneration. As such, her head felt fine while splintery lances of pain flared from all over her torso and limbs as her skeleton finished filling in.

Finally it finished, and Kaguya sat up with a groan. That had not been fun, and whatever good feelings she had felt toward the dream were now fading. She was now leaning toward the "Dream is Sentient" theory. It would certainly explain its sick sense of humor.

She checked herself over. The regeneration seemed to have gone off without a hitch, at least. Her Slytherin uniform had returned in full, down to the scarf. That was a relief. For one, she liked that uniform. For another, Mokou and Rumia had already gotten more of a look at her than she would have liked. Having to go search for them while butt naked would have been nothing short of degrading.

That done, she took a look at her surroundings. She was still in the Lunarian courtroom, though it seemed to be after hours. The place was deserted and the lights dimmed. She sighed. They hadn't even removed her body. That was somewhat depressing, though she wasn't sure why. It did at least mean she wouldn't be waking up in a trash heap. Having done so numerous times in the past, Kaguya could personally attest to how disgusting of an experience it was.

Kaguya stood up and brushed herself off. She licked her finger and rubbed it across her neck, cleaning away the dried blood. As she did so, she scanned the room, looking for her previous body. She didn't really expect to find it, as the dream had probably swallowed it up, but idle curiosity drove her.

She found it. And then some.

Kaguya Houraisan found herself staring at Kaguya Houraisan. A perfect duplicate of herself, down to the flowing raven hair and Slytherin uniform, stood across from her, looking at her with an expression of total astonishment. Kaguya, who knew her own face must have been wearing that exact same expression, stared right back.

What was this? Another one of the dream's weird metaphors? The final boss? Would she have to fight some sort of mirror image of herself in order to progress?

Then the other Kaguya spoke. "Holy shitting sun, moon and stars, it actually happened."

"What?" Kaguya blinked. "What happened?"

Pointing a shaking finger, the other Kaguya said, "You came back. All the way. I thought you were going to stay dead. You know, like you always do? But you came back."

"Came back? But why wouldn't I-"

And then it hit her. It was as if Eirin had attached a series of electrodes to her brain and thrown the switch. It was as if pure caffeine had been injected directly into her brains. It was like three orgasms, all right on top of each other. The realization was like all that, plus more.

Judging by the wide grin on the other Kaguya's face, she had reached the exact same conclusion. "Starfish?" she said.

Kaguya nodded. An identical grin split her own features. "When Mokou got decapitated?"

"Yeah." The other Kaguya laughed. "Good thing we put her back together after all."

They looked at each other again, neither of them a duplicate, neither of them a copy created by the dream, but both the original, somehow split in two identical Kaguyas by the weird, twisted nature of the dream's reality.

And then, at the exact same time, they blurted out, "Oh FUCK YEAH!"

...

_This is the second update of Imperfect Metamorphosis' two-year anniversary celebration, and it looks like Rhapsody of Subconscious Desire is coming near its conclusion. Hopefully this storyline will wrap up within a couple chapters, four more at the absolute most._

_And it's kind of odd, openly addressing something that's such an important part of the Touhou fandom but has generally been overlooked in my stories. Namely, that of sexuality. Of course, we all know the "Everyone is gay in Gensokyo" meme, but since relationshipping is such a small part of IM and RoSD, it really hasn't been addressed. So I guess now's a good a time as any to clear things up how things work. _

_Kaguya's a lesbian, no surprises there. It's been hinted at plenty of times, and now it's been outright stated. Mokou is...I really don't know. Disinterested in sex altogether, would be the best way to put it. As for the other characters, in this story Humans fall into the normal spectrum of sexual preferences, with most being somewhere on the heterosexual side of the line, a few on the homosexual side while others, like Marisa, are somewhere in the middle. And like I said, it really isn't a big deal. At all. Reimu is straight but, like Mokou, mostly disinterested. As is Sanae, though she's a bit closer to the line and has a rather active social life. _

_As for the youkai, those that employ sexual reproduction (the Kappa, the Kirin, the Tengu, the Satori, the Oni, etc.) fall within the same parameters. As do youkai that spring from animals, such as Mystia, Ran, and Chen, though they lose their need (and means) to reproduce and simply carry over whatever orientation they had as animals._

_Youkai that evolve from inanimate objects or metaphysical concepts (like Kogasa and Rumia) are, to a hilt, bi-sexual, and as they lack the need and drive to reproduce, whatever relationships they develop are for pleasure and companionship only. Also, despite what the games themselves might tell us, there are male youkai._

_Fairies, on the other hand, are all female (at least in this story) and are all asexual. Which isn't to say they're not extremely affectionate with people they like and incapable of romantic attachment, but sexual desire is alien to them. Though some of them do grow curious..._

_As for Yuuka, she's, well, she's just Yuuka. Nothing more to be said there._

_Also note that this is how things work in my story, and how the actual canon world of Touhou works is entirely up to ZUN.  
_

_Until next time, everyone!_


	7. Doors

Doors

_She drew her arm back and hurled it forward, sending a smooth, flat stone skipping across the lake. Ripples spread out from each of the places where the stone hit the water. It leapt forward a good five times before disappearing beneath the water's surface. The girl picked up another stone and threw it over the lake with all her might and watched as it followed in its brother's footsteps. _

_Only three skips. She shrugged and reached for another but paused when she felt someone approaching. A brief glance to confirm the newcomer's identity, and the girl sighed, picked up a new stone and tossed it at the lake. This one lasted for six skips before coming to rest. _

"_You're getting pretty good at that," said her brother as he walked up to stand next to her._

_The girl nodded but otherwise didn't respond. _

_Her brother picked up a rock of his own. He jiggled it from one palm to the other, testing its weight, before sending it spinning across the lake. "So I guess you've heard?"_

"_Yes," the girl said._

"_So, what do you think?"_

"_Why do you care?"_

_He shot her a sidelong glance and rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't give me that. You've been the biggest supporter of him marrying that princess ever since she showed up. In fact, weren't you the one who convinced him to go on that quest thing in the first place?"_

"_Don't remind me," she said harshly. "And what do you want me to say? Okay, I'm disappointed that he failed. There, I admitted it. Does that make you happy?"_

_Her brother actually looked remorseful. "Sorry, sorry," he said. He picked up a smooth stone and passed it to her. "It's just I've never really got why you wanted him to marry her so badly. Hell, you've never even met her."_

_She turned the stone over in her fingers, feeling the coolness of it hard surface. "What does it matter? He failed, she's rejected him, it didn't work out. End of story."_

"_Hmmm." He put his folded his arms and looked out to the lilypad-covered water. "Is that why you're out here, taking your anger out on an innocent lake?"_

_She shot a sidelong scowl at him before tossing the stone across the water, sending it skipping seven times and scaring the wits out of an old toad that had been napping on a half-sunk log. "He deserves better," she said._

"_Eh?" Her brother cocked his head to one side. "Better than her? Little sister, I know you actually haven't seen the princess, so I'll forgive your ignorance. But speaking as…as a fully functioning man-"_

_She snorted. He ignored this._

"_-who _has _seen her, let me assure you: this impossible task she has her suitors embark on to earn the privilege of her hand is nothing short of ridiculous; and yet, if I thought I had the slightest chance of succeeding, and if I weren't afraid of offending Father, I would _gladly _go looking for whatever legendary pottery or magic rodent pieces she wants."_

"_I get it," she said irritably. "So she's pretty."_

"_Pretty?" He gaped at her in mock-offense, his hands clutching at his heart. "My gods, how far your words fall from reality. Why, if you weren't my beloved sister, I would feel obligated to challenge you to a duel to the death to uphold that splendid creature's honor!"_

_This earned him another dismissive snort. "Just as well. You'd lose."_

"_Well, maybe," he said, his cocky grin never wavering as he playfully ruffled her nut-brown hair. "But all things considered, being burnt to a crisp would be a small price to pay for possibly earning a night in her bed."_

"_You have a strange way of looking at things," she said dryly. "Especially considering that you'd either be in too much pain to enjoy it, or unable to feel at all."_

"_Positive thinking, little sister, positive thinking. Just being there would be enough."_

_She rolled her eyes. "Thanks the gods I am not a man. And that's not what I meant anyway."_

"_Oh?" He knelt down to find a new stone and gave it a flick but made a face when it only skipped two times. "Then by all means, enlighten me."_

_She looked skyward, collecting her thoughts. "He deserves better than what he's gotten. Mother wasted away in front of his eyes, and he couldn't do anything for her. And then those damned Sonozikas took Umakai away. That's almost half of the family, gone in five years."_

_Her brother sobered immediately. He waited for her to continue, the twinkle gone from his grey eyes._

"_And, well, you know what's going to happen to me," she said with a shrug. "Sooner or later, it'll just be the two of you. And we both know the Sonozikas would love to take his other son." She shook her head. "He deserves better than that. A man like him shouldn't have his family taken away. He deserves better."_

"_So you wanted him to take a wife that couldn't die," her brother said, understanding dawning on his face. "Someone he would never lose."_

_She grunted. "Pretty much, yes. Maybe it was a long shot. I mean, they are called the _Impossible_ tasks. But still, if anyone deserved to win…" She shrugged again. By her foot was another stone, worn perfectly smooth by the lake. She knelt down and picked it up. "Well, it just didn't seem fair to me."_

"_No," her brother said, nodding. "You're right." He stuck his thumbs into the sash around his waist and sighed. "It isn't fair. But then, is anything?"_

_She didn't answer. Instead, she tossed the stone from one hand to the other as she looked over the water and calculated her shot. Then she drew her arm back and…_

…hurled it forward, releasing a ball of flame so hot it was blazing white down the hallway to obliterate another door which had been blocking her way. The door melted into dripping bits of silver liquid metal, which disintegrated even further when the inferno that enveloped Mokou blew past.

At another time, Mokou might have taken amusement from the knowledge that she was burning a fiery trail through what had to be an important part of Kaguya's subconscious, coupled by the sincere hope that she was causing at least temporary brain damage in the process. But now, the only thing she could concentrate on was finding Kaguya before Rumia did.

Rumia Yagami. It sounded impossible, but so was most everything about Mokou's life. She just didn't understand how she could have missed it. It wasn't as if Rumia had been using an alibi. Were Mokou's memories of that time so repressed that she had failed to find that name at least a little familiar? As much as she hated to admit it, that did seem to be the case. And it was bitterly ironic, in a way. She could still remember all the faces and names from her mortal days, despite everyone from that time having been dust longer than most modern civilizations have existed. But she couldn't recognize someone she used to see every day only a few short decades ago.

Granted, there was no reason she should have expected to see Rumia again. That girl was supposed to be dead, along with so many others. And while Mokou had not witnessed the event in person, she had seen the grisly aftermath. There was simply no way a Human, much less a child, could have survived. Had she become a youkai right before death? That would explain a great deal, though Humans who became youkai tended to stop aging. And it also didn't explain why Rumia hadn't recognized her either.

Mokou scowled and pushed that puzzle from her mind, resolving to solve it later. There were too many things to figure out and she had too few pieces of the puzzle. Her current priority was to find Rumia and Kaguya as quickly as possible, preferably before the former caught up to the latter. In fact, she probably should concentrate on finding Kaguya quickly anyway. She had been gone too long, and who knew what horrible things the dream was visiting upon her? Torturing Kaguya was Mokou's privilege, and she did not care for others trying to muscle in on her monopoly.

…

In the darkened chamber of the Lunarian High Court, Kaguya talked to herself.

"You know what the funny thing is?" she said as she paced excitedly back and forth. "We probably have Mokou and Rumia to thank for this?"

"How do you figure?" Kaguya said from her place on the floor. She back on her elbows and stretched out her legs.

"Because of how dreams work," Kaguya replied. She stuck her finger into the air to emphasize her point. "They're like a big mish-mash of our memories, thoughts, fantasies, and expectations, right?"

"So?"

"So if Mokou hadn't gotten her stupid head cut off, and if Rumia hadn't suggested that something like this might happen, the possibility would have never occurred to me, so I might have never expected it to happen, so it would have never happened."

Kaguya wrinkled her nose. "I hope you don't expect me to thank them. I'd rather have knitting needles shoved into my eyes."

"Oh, no arguments here," Kaguya agreed. "It's not like they made it happen on purpose. And hey, even if they did, screw 'em."

She stopped pacing and walked over to sit down in front of herself. "And hey, speaking of which, what do you want to do now?"

"Now?" Kaguya sat up and crossed her legs. She scratched her cheek as she thought. "Well, that's a good question. I mean, we don't have our Gamecube with us…"

"Which sucks," Kaguya said. "I mean, to finally have a challenge that _isn't _Tewi's button-mashing!"

"I know, right?" Kaguya agreed, her face darkening. While taking on an amateur button-masher wouldn't normally be a problem for a veteran such as herself, Tewi was a literal avatar of luck, a fact that she exploited shamelessly. "And while we're on the subject, no tabletop games, no models to work on, not even a godsdamned jigsaw puzzle. We can't even team up on Mokou, as she's not here."

"There's that truce thing getting in the way of that anyway," Kaguya reminded her.

"Yeah, I know," Kaguya said in disappointment. "So, despite this possibly being the most awesome thing to me…us…whatever since forever, it unfortunately happened in a really lousy place at a really lousy time. I mean, all we got is us."

"True," Kaguya agreed. "But fortunately, we still have the two most important activities that encountering a perfect duplicate of yourself would allow. Namely, the two F's."

"Of course, of course," Kaguya nodded, a sly smile creeping across her face. "The two F's. First, there's fighting…"

"And then there's the _other _one."

Kaguya grinned at herself. "First one and then the other?" she suggested.

Nodding her approval, Kaguya started to unbutton her collar. "Kaguya, I like the way I think."

…

Given how cussed the dream world had been toward her thus far, Mokou had feared it would doom her efforts by turning the palace into an inescapable labyrinth. Not that she would let something like that stop her, but the delay could prove costly. However, she needn't have worried. The corridors had not reshaped themselves while she had been locked up, and it didn't take long for her to find the central path, the one they had led Kaguya down.

Before tearing through this one as well, she stopped and considered the other branching hallway, the one Rumia had been taken down, and wondered if she should go down that one instead. She had liked Rumia once, she really had. But she had lived long enough to learn that things that had once been Human with deceitful tongues and a complete disregard of danger were not to be trusted. This new creature was dangerous, and so long as her ulterior motive was unknown, Mokou was going to regard her as an enemy. The trick was not to superimpose the face of the Rumia she had known over the one she was dealing with now.

However, whatever Rumia was planning, she had made it clear that she needed both Kaguya and Mokou to accomplish it. Which meant that Kaguya was the person she needed to find first. Rumia would come on her own without needing to be found.

With that in mind, Mokou shot off down the large passageway, which ended in a proportionally large door. She would have blazed her way right through that as well, but something caught her attention, making her hesitate.

Mokou had not been born a predator, but she had had a long time to learn how to become one. Decade after decade, century after century of living in the Wilds, of fighting off any number of vicious supernatural threats, of hunting, stalking, battling, and killing one of the deadliest beings when it came to close-quarters combat had honed her skills and instincts and sharpened her senses, and the occasional magical upgrade didn't hurt either. As such, even when running off high emotions, she still noticed things others would miss, especially things she had specially trained herself to notice.

Such as, for example, the all-too familiar sound of Kaguya fighting for her life, coming from right beyond the door.

That told Mokou two things: one, she had found what she was looking for; and two, she was very close to being too late. She threw herself forward, slicing through the silvery metal like a blade through paper and shooting into the room beyond. Once there, she hovered in midair, twin suns around each hand, ready for anything.

"All right!" she shouted as she searched for the battle. "Get away from…OH, WHAT THE HELL!"

The room she had entered was impressively large and ornate, with three levels of walkways cut into the walls, a ground floor large enough to host ballroom dances, and some kind of floating crystal chandelier thingamajig floating overhead with no visible means of support.

That, however, was not what Mokou had reacted to.

Scattered over the floor was an outfit that, had Mokou paid any amount of significant attention to it, would be recognized as Kaguya's Slithering (or whatever the hell she called it) uniform. However, it seemed to have increased since last she saw it. Doubled, in fact, to the point where it possessed exactly twice the articles of clothing necessary for one person.

This was technically related to what Mokou had reacted to, but was not the thing itself.

No, Mokou's attention was focused on Kaguya herself. Her lifelong rival was indeed in the middle of furious activity, but not the kind Mokou had been expecting, and not with the person she had thought it would be. Rather, Kaguya was busy doing something that Mokou had accidentally caught her doing before, and would be quite happy never seeing her do ever again. Furthermore, the person she was doing it with was not Rumia or one of the dream's monsters, but herself, in the most impossibly literal sense.

Mokou's avenging fire snuffed out and she hovered in place, staring.

The two Kaguyas paused in their masturbatory to look up at Mokou. True to form, neither of them looked happy to see her.

"Oh perfect, of course she shows up," said the one. "Godsdamn it, Mokou! Don't you ever knock?"

"Bwuh," Mokou responded, her brain too frozen to articulate anything else. "Mebah."

The other impatiently swung her arm out. "Hey, some privacy? Please?"

Mokou made a small whine of acknowledgement but didn't move.

"Move it, charcoal brain!" the first snapped. "We'll be out in a minute!"

"M'key," Mokou said meekly. She turned and floated back out the smoldering hole she had made. From there, she continued down the hallway until she was finally out of earshot, sat down on the floor with her back to the wall, and put her head between her legs. She rocked back and forth, moaning.

It took the two Kaguyas significantly longer than a minute to come out, indicating that they decided to finish what they had started. During that time, Mokou covered her ears with her hands and did her best not to think. To do so would be to realize, which was too horrible to contemplate.

Finally, she sensed someone approaching. She looked up to see Kaguya, all two of her, walking her way. They had both dressed in matching uniforms and were actively healing from the injuries they had given each other. Furthermore, they wore identical looks of annoyance.

Mokou took one look at them and closed her eyes with a moan. Since coming here, she had encountered nightmares aplenty, from monsters to mind tricks to ghosts of her sordid past. But this was like something straight out of Hell.

"All right, we're done," one of the Kaguyas snapped. "Thank you _so _much for waiting."

"Seriously, you had to show up then?" said the other. "Is that one of your powers? Showing up at the worst possible moment?"

Mokou took a deep breath and waited until she was sure that her stomach wasn't going to start voicing its protests. Then she looked up at the two identical Lunarians and said, "There is two of you. Are. There are two. Of you."

The Kaguyas looked at each other and rolled their eyes. "You know," said the one on the left. "I do believe you're right."

"Why?" Mokou said. "Why are there two of you?"

"Don't you know how long it's been since I had a mirror? I could be covered with pimples and never realize it. I had to do _something._"

Mokou closed her eyes again and counted to ten three times, each time in a different language. When she was done, she said again, "Why. Are there. Two of you?"

They both snickered. "You think we should tell her?" said the one on the right.

"Oh, I'm not sure," the other responded. "This is kind of fun."

"Yeah, but tick-tock," the first reminded her.

"True, true," the second said wearily. She shook her head and looked back at Mokou. "Okay, here's the short version: your asshole of a father cut my head off."

"I guess it really does run in the family," the first added.

Mokou stared at them, her face twisted in confusion. "So? I got my head cut not too long ago."

"Yeah, but I put it back, didn't I? But seeing how no one was around to do the same for me, and seeing how our powers have been acting really weird…" Both Kaguyas shrugged.

"What?" Mokou sputtered. "So, _both _parts grew back?"

"Yup," said the one on the left, a cheery smile on her face. She raised her hand. "Head."

"Body," said the other. They exchanged high-fives.

Mokou muttered something incomprehensible, even to herself. Then she took another deep breath and exploded. "And the first thing you decided to do was to have SEX with _YOURSELF? _What the _HELL _is _WRONG WITH YOU?"_

"Hey, we don't know how long this is going to last," said the one on the right. "We had to make the most of the time we have."

"And we never got to the fight part," the other muttered. "Told you we should have done at once."

"You were having _sex _with _yourself!" _Mokou screeched.

"Oh, and like you wouldn't?"

"NO!"

"Hmmm," said the one on the left as she rubbed her chin. "Maybe you have a point. We can't all be…Well, you know."

"What?" Mokou said testily. "I know what?"

Kaguya shrugged. "Well, I'm just saying, at least at you don't have any self-illusions about your appearance, that's all." The other Kaguya snickered.

Mokou squeezed her hands into fists. Smoke was starting to rise from her clenched fingers.

"What? I'm just pointing out that you have some measure of taste. It's a compliment."

"This is too much," Mokou growled. She pushed herself to her feet and faced the two smirking Kaguyas. "All right. Flip a coin. If you don't got one, do Rock-Paper-Scissors or Eenie-Meenie-Minie-Moe."

"What? Why?" said the Kaguya on the right.

Both of Mokou's fists ignited. "Because I am going to burn the loser."

Rather than being threatened, this just made the Kaguyas laugh. "Oh, _please," _said the one on the right. "You know as well as we do that that won't work. We both heal just the same as always, thank you very much."

"Then I'll burn both of you!" Mokou shouted. "I burn you both, squeeze the ashes together, and make sure only one comes back!"

That sobered them up immediately. "Will that work?" one asked the other.

"I think we're better off not taking chances," came the grim response. To Mokou, she said, "We have a truce, remember."

"I do not care," Mokou said. She drew her right hand back. "I am _not _dealing with two of-"

When the attack came, there was no warning. One moment the two Kaguyas were standing side-by-side. The next, one had slammed her fist into the underside of Mokou's jaw. The force lifted her up off her feet. Before her body could complete its arc, the other Kaguya appeared at her side and drove her forearm into Mokou's middle, driving her back to the ground. Mokou's head smacked against the metal floor and she saw stars.

"If you think you're tough enough to take us both on, by all means go ahead," said the Kaguya with the uppercut. "But you'll lose. Then you'll try again and lose again. Then we mash your body into a liquid and go finish this adventure without you."

"Or you can grow the hell up and accept the fact that from now on there's going to be double the Kaguya, double the fun," the other said. "And the sooner you do that, the sooner you'll-"

Mokou seized the ankle of the Kaguya that was talking and twisted, driving her off balance. The other quickly leapt to defend her other self, but not before Mokou managed to wrap her legs around her captive's middle and brought her hands up under Kaguya's arms to clasp behind her neck in a full nelson. "Move, and things get hot," she warned. "And I gotta tell you, the metal everything around here's made of? It had a real low melting point."

Both Kaguyas froze, which gave Mokou a small measure of satisfaction. The hardest part about threatening Kaguya was that there was usually very little she could be threatened with. Pain and death never did the trick, the people she surrounded herself were off-limits, and the last time Mokou had gone after all those stupid toys, she had destroyed a figurine that had turned out to have been a personal gift from Eirin Yagokoro to Kaguya. The rage the doctor had flown into and her ensuing vengeance had convinced Mokou that the risk that came with wrecking Kaguya's personal possessions just wasn't worth it.

But now, it seemed she finally had something to work with. Kaguya, being the narcissist she was, was obviously thrilled with having another of herself around, and wasn't willing to risk having the situation changed. Excellent.

Once she was certain that she had both of the Kaguyas' full attention, Mokou said, "Okay girls, here's how things are going to work. If you want to keep living out this schizophrenic fantasy of yours, this stupid truce of ours is getting a few amendments. Mainly, you do your damnedest not to annoy me. Being stuck here with you is six degrees of unbearable, and if you make it twelve I swear to the gods I will use _any _excuse to try to fix that. Got it?"

Kaguya, the one not currently being held hostage, glowered at her, smoldering eyes filled with hate. And though Mokou couldn't see from her position, she had no doubt that the other Kaguya was wearing the same expression. But they both nodded their acceptance.

"Good," Mokou said, though she didn't release her hold.

"Well?" said the Kaguya in her grip. "We agreed! Let me go."

"Gimme a second," Mokou said. At the moment, her usual mix of homicidal impulses were exceptionally strong, and it was taking a great measure of will not to snap her captive's neck. She focused on untwining her fingers first, though their obedience was stiff and reluctant. However, as soon as she felt Mokou's grip loosening, Kaguya wasted no time in breaking the hold and squirming free.

Even though she no longer had a Kaguya (and wasn't it just a measure of how profoundly screwed up the world had become that she now had to think of Kaguya in the plural?) at her mercy, Mokou didn't get up. She didn't even change position. She remained sitting with her legs crossed and her hands held before her, as if she still had a warm body ready to mangle. Though she had just grabbed that Kaguya up to make a point, her body had been expecting to make a kill, and it wasn't used to having its expectations denied. Mokou was struck with the sudden realization that, despite having traveled with Kaguya for what had to be at least a few days now, the only time she had killed the Lunarian princess was that one time when Kaguya had asked her to so as to fix her glitching regeneration, and that time didn't really count. She _desperately _needed a fix.

Kaguya, the one who hadn't been grabbed, looked down at her in disdain. "So," she said. "You planning on getting up, or did you develop a cramp?"

Mokou took a deep breath and forced her muscles to relax. It wasn't easy, but she did manage to bring her need to kill under control. "Right," she said as she straightened up. "Okay. Deal with this later. For now, we've got a major problem."

The two Kaguya looked unimpressed. "No," said the one on the left.

"Really?" added the one on the right.

It was funny how difficult it was to make her mind refocus on the Rumia problem. A moment ago it had seemed so important; now the fact that there was now _two _Kaguyas was demanding precedence in her mind. "It's Rumia," Mokou said.

"What about her?"

"She's not who she says she is."

One of the Kaguyas laughed while the other rolled her eyes. "Brilliant, Conan," said the latter. "You're just now noticing? I've been saying that ever since she showed up."

"Except I know it for certain," Mokou said. "I knowher. Well, actually, _knew_ her, back in the real world."

Now the Kaguyas were starting to pay attention. "You did? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I didn't remember until now," Mokou said. "The last time I saw her was…what year is it again?"

The Kaguya on the right told her.

"Right. Sixty years exactly." Mokou's expression darkening as equally dark memories surfaced. "And one thing I am sure of, the last time I saw her she was twelve years old and Human."

"Really!" said the one on the left, eyes widening. "Well, I don't like her any, but I have to admit, she's in good shape for her age."

"Seriously, she doesn't look a day over twenty-five," said the other.

"Save your compliments," Mokou growled. "Because the reason I haven't spoken to her since is because she's _supposed _to have been killed back then. Horribly." When the two Kaguyas gaped at her in shock, Mokou quickly added, "And no, it wasn't me. I didn't find out until after, and would have saved her if I could." A hard lump was starting to form in her throat. Returning to that specific memory hurt, and talking about it made it worse. Mokou hid it the best she could and pressed on. "But here are the facts: all reports agree that she died. But if that's the case, why is she alive? Why is she a youkai? Why is she older? And why is she here, with us and clearly more powerful than she's letting on, lying her ass off and acting like she doesn't know me, all the while steering us where she wants us to go?"

The two Kaguyas exchanged a long, solemn look, and Mokou felt another surge of satisfaction. Certainly, Kaguya had managed to duplicate herself, which was horrible. But as a result, Mokou now had the leverage she needed to keep the Moonbitch, both of them, in line. And with the information she had, she had managed to get Kaguya to shut up and take things seriously. It wasn't enough to offset just how bad things were, but Mokou was going to take her victories where she could find them.

"All right," said the Kaguya on the left. "We're listening. Who the hell is this girl Rumia anyway?"

…

When the dream had first sensed the dark intruder, it had registered as an annoying trespasser and responded to as such. As the dark intruder proved to be harder to kill than initially believed, the attempts to remove it had escalated, only for each one to fail in its turn. All the while, the dark intruder's status as a threat had been upgraded accordingly.

But now the cat was out of the bag, and it was becoming apparent that the dream was horribly outmatched.

"**What, was that it?" **the dark intruder purred as it slithered through the corridors of Palace Houraisan, shrouded in the field of cold black that destroyed all life it came in contact with. **"One deformed bunny? Come on! At least the velmick **_**looked **_**impressive!"**

Of course, the dream didn't rise to the challenge. For one, it lacked the self-awareness to do so. For another, it was already using a different tactic. While it lacked the power to meet the dark intruder strength-to-strength, it could at least control which way it went. And where.

The dark intruder turned a corner, and suddenly found the corridor opening to a place _other _than Palace Houraisan. For one, it was oppressively dark, not unlike the kind the dark intruder was emitting. For another, it was searing hot. Furthermore, it was filled with the sounds of agonized screams, cracking whips, rattling chains, tearing flesh, and demonic laughter. The smell of sulfur and burning flesh rose from the opening.

However, rather than be repulsed by this horrific change in direction, the dark intruder seemed delighted. **"Ah, the flames of perdition, is it? Wonderful! Granted, not especially original, but the dramatic irony is delicious."**

The dark intruder crouched on the edge of the opening, its wings outstretched and its crimson eyes burning with anticipation. **"Well, this could be fun. Let's see how it measures up to the real thing."**

With that, the dark intruder dove into Hell.

…

Mokou finished speaking. She wasn't much of a storyteller, but she hadn't intended to entertain. She sat back against the wall and rubbed her throat. Even keeping to nothing but the most relevant events from those two years had been tough; her throat now felt thick and raw.

As for the Kaguyas, they just stood there, solemnly watching her. Mokou got the impression that her story hadn't been what they had expected.

Finally one spoke. "So, that's it then?"

Mokou nodded. "Yeah."

"Ah." The Kaguyas exchanged a look. The one that hadn't spoken cleared her throat and said, "You know, I always wondered why it took you so long to show up after the party. Eirin said you'd only be gone for a few days, so I started wondering where you'd gone to."

"That's it?" Mokou said with a frown. "Just a 'Oh, so that's where you were'? That's all you have to say?"

"What are you expecting?" asked the Kaguya on the left. "For us to make fun of you? We already said we wouldn't."

"Besides, as much as we hate your filthy guts and love to mock your miserable life and amazingly screwed up family, even we know where the line is," said the other with a shudder of revulsion. "Some things are just off-limits. I mean, sun moon and stars. Those were _kids."_

Which was probably as close to sympathy as Mokou was going to get from Kaguya. She accepted it with a nod. "So, now we both know. Question is, what now?"

The Kaguya on the right quirked an eyebrow. "Why are you asking us? This is your show."

"Mine?"

"Sure," said the one on the left. "You're the one who knew the kid. It's your call."

Mokou let out a bitter laugh. "Seriously? I'm still trying to wrap my head around them being the same person. I mean, I…" Her already tight throat tightened some more. She swallowed noisily and continued. "I _liked _the kid, you know? Sure, she was an annoying brat most of the time, had a real mouth on her, and kept getting Keine in trouble, but I kinda liked her attitude. And like you said, she was just a kid."

She stared at a point beyond her legs as dark and confusing thoughts swirled through her head. "When we found out what had been done to her, the first thing I wanted to do was go chase down those sons of bitches and spit-roast them over an open fire. Hell, if it weren't for Keine, I probably would have. I don't remember ever hating anyone that much, and I'm taking my very long history with you into that account. Just as well that someone else got there and did the job for me." Her fingers twitched. "It was almost a year before I saw Keine smile again after that. And I know for a fact that some of the other kids ended up profoundly fucked up as a result. That night…there weren't a lot of survivors. Even the ones who lived through it, I wouldn't say they survived."

She turned her head to look up at the Kaguya twins, her lips twisted into a humorless smile. "So you want me to make the call? I couldn't save her then, and now you want me to decide if we should kill her now and finish the job? Is that what you're suggesting, Princess Selfcestuous?"

To her surprise, the two Kaguyas had different reactions to her words. The one on the left actually looked somewhat bashful. She shuffled her feet and muttered, "Well, when you put it _that _way…" The one on the right, however, wasn't nearly so sympathetic. "Oh, give us a break," she said, a scornful scowl on her face. "Come on, Mokou, think! It's not like the only options are instant forgiveness and trust or burn to death. We don't even know for sure if they're the same person. I mean, it's like you said, it's been sixty years and you've done your damnedest to not think about that mess. Maybe your subconscious message was making connections that weren't there."

Mokou's smile thinned out, though it didn't wither completely. "Yes, because Rumia Yagami is _such _a common name."

"Hey, a name being rare don't mean there can't be at least two people using it. But even if it is her, that doesn't mean we gotta be stupid about it. So here's a crazy idea: what say we find her and make her tell us what the hell happened and what she's really up to?"

"You mean torture her," Mokou said, her voice and face neutral.

"Did I say torture? I don't remember saying torture." Kaguya whirled to face her twin. "Kaguya, did I say torture?"

The other Kaguya shook her head. "No, you did not say torture."

"There, you see? I never said torture. I said we confront her and get the truth."

"And if she lies to us?" Mokou said. "Because she will."

Kaguya shrugged. "Hey, sometimes you can learn as much from a lie as the truth. At least, it shouldn't be too hard to find out if they're really the same person or not. Beyond that, well, like I said, it's your call."

Her call. Right. Because that had always worked out so well for her in the past. Mokou thought back to her conversation with Rumia, the current one, back in the cave while they had waited for Kaguya to resurrect. Unfortunately, what she had said then was true: she really wasn't good at much beyond fighting, killing, and messing with Kaguya's head. A situation such as this fell just a bit outside of her experience.

With a grunt, she pushed herself to her feet. Kaguya, the one that had recently done most of the talking, quirked an eyebrow.

"So, that would be a yes then?" she asked, folding her arms.

Mokou brushed off her sleeves and straightened her suspenders. "Whatever we end up doing, you're right about us needing to find her." She stuck her hands in her pockets and started heading toward the corridor Rumia had been led down, her back curved in her usual slouch. "So let's do that first and worry about the rest of it after the reunion, okay?"

"Fair enough," said the Kaguya on the right.

"All right," said the one on the left.

"And by the by," Mokou said as they turned the corner. "So long as you're planning on staying like that, we have got to figure out a way to tell you two apart. I mean, I can't keep thinking of you as 'the one on the left' and 'the one on the right,' especially since you're going to keep switching places."

The two Kaguyas looked at each other. One of them shrugged. "She's got a point," she said.

"Fine," the other huffed. She reached up and undid her tie, leaving the two ends hanging loosely around her collar. "There, that work for you?"

"There's still the name problem," the first Kaguya pointed out.

"Dibs on Kaguya!" said the one with the undone tie. "You can be Houraisan."

The other wrinkled her nose. "Hell no. That just makes me think of when Tewi starts playing drill sergeant with the Eientei Guard. You know, when she starts calling every by their surname, barks at them to do the stupidest, and yet funniest, drills, and looks for any excuse to slap their asses."

"Yikes," said the first, also wrinkling her nose. "Now that you mention it, it kinda does."

Mokou stopped walking and turned around. She looked from one Kaguya to the other. "Hmmm," she said, rubbing her chin and pursing her lips. Then she pointed at the one with her tie undone. "Fine, you can be Moon."

"Moon?" came the bewildered response.

"Yeah," Mokou said. Then she pointed at the other. "And you can be Bitch."

"No," the twins said in unison.

"Ass and Hole then?" Mokou suggested.

The one with her tie still neat and in place folded her arms in irritation. "Look, we're willing to work with you on the whole 'no taunting' rule, but don't think that gives you a free pass."

"All right, all right, fine." Mokou put her hands on her hips and thought for a moment more. "Which one of you came from the head again?"

The two Kaguyas glanced at each other in confusion. Then the one with her tie still done reluctantly raised her hand. "Uh, me?"

"Great," Mokou said. "You can be Head then."

"What?" came the flat response.

Mokou nodded at the other one. "And you're Body."

The two Kaguyas stared at her for a moment, neither of them speaking. Then they looked at each other.

Then the one Mokou had deemed "Head" tried to snort back laughter, only to fail miserably. That set Body off, and soon they were both cracking up.

"Okay," Body said when she could. "Deal."

Mokou was disappointed. "You actually like it?"

"It's so stupid it's hilarious," Head snickered. "So sure, why the hell not?" Then a thought seemed to strike her. "Though it's also kind of ironic, in a way…"

"Yeah?" Body said. "How so?"

"Well, I mean it's a little ironic that I'm the one called Head, when you were the one giving-"

Body smacked her twin upside her namesake. Rolling her eyes, Mokou turned and continued down the hall, careful to hide the grin that was forming. She had to admit, while it had failed to tick the Kaguyas off, the name thing was pretty funny.

…

Laughing and twirling as it plummeted further and further, the dark intruder used its shroud of darkness to ward off the waves of Hellfire that were sent her way, robbing them of their heat and snuffing them cold.

"**Come on!" **it crowed. **"You've got the mind of someone who uses Phoenix Fire on a regular basis and the mind of someone who gets **_**burned **_**by Phoenix Fire on a regular basis to work with, and you can't even put together a decent inferno? Are you even trying?"**

In response, a gaggle of yellow-eyed, potbellied demons swarming in to challenge her, all of them brandishing pitchforks.

The dark intruder tsked. **"Once again, you fall to tired cliché. Real demons don't look like that, and you know it." **Multiple smoky black tendrils shot out to tear the demons to pieces.

The dark intruder sighed. **"This is getting boring," **it complained. **"Look, if you want to waste my time and keep me distracted, by all means, go right ahead. But at least **_**act**_** like you're giving some effort!"**

A bout of deep, throaty laughter rose up in answer. The dark intruder paused in its plunge. The lights of its eyes flickered back and forth, though more out of curiosity than uncertainty. Then it slowly turned around.

Looming out of the smoke and sulfur was the hazy silhouette of a monstrous creature, one that was humanoid in shape but definitely not Human. It was well over thirty meters tall, with the bulging muscles of a bodybuilder, the curving claws and hairy forearms of a wolf, and the membranous wings of a bat, not unlike the dark intruder's own. Its horned head was bald, though it wore a thick, pointed beard, and its eyes glowed yellow in the shadows, in response to the red gaze of the dark intruder.

Stunned, the dark intruder stared as the Prince of Darkness advanced, chuckling as he came. Then its eyes narrowed with irritation. **"Again with the sacrificing accuracy for cliché. He looks nothing like that! For one, no horns, no beard, and he has hair. For another, he also has class."**

The Prince of Darkness reached out with one massive hand toward the dark intruder, presumably to crush it. Unimpressed, it let him get within arm's distance before reaching out and wrapping its hand around the tip of his pointed fingernail.

He stopped short.

Though its face was invisible behind the swirling shroud, there was no doubt that the dark intruder was smiling. **"Oh, and that's another thing the real article has that you don't: the ability to intimidate."**

The shroud suddenly sped up and expanded, becoming a spinning whirlwind. And the Prince of Darkness's laughter turned into a scream.

…

"Hmmm," Body said as she examined the door before them. She tapped her knuckles against the stained wood of its frame. She glanced down at her twin, who was kneeling at her side. "So, what do you think?"

"I think our subconscious is either trying for creepy symbolism again or running out of ideas," Head remarked as she ran her hands over the door's lower half.

They had come up to a new door, one that did not match the rest of their surroundings. This one was made from the same dark wood as Eientei and featured a plain brass handle. Furthermore, it seemed to be locked.

"I don't see a keyhole," Head mused. "How are we going to pick this thing if there's no-"

"Move."

The two Kaguyas looked over their shoulders. Then their eyes widened and they quickly leapt out of the way, just in time to avoid being hit as Mokou's foot came up to slam into the door's center. The frame splintered as the door slammed open.

"Hey, a little warning next time?" Body growled in irritation as she straightened her outfit.

"I gave you one," Mokou said. She walked up to the door and leaned inside to look around.

"Half a second doesn't count as a warning!" Head snapped.

"It's enough time for you, wasn't it? You should be flattered that I think so highly of your reflexes." Mokou ignited a small ball of flame over her hand and progressed inside. "Now, stop whining and follow me."

Head watched her disappear inside. "Give her a little leeway, just a little bit, and she turns the bitchiness into overdrive," she muttered to her twin. "You'd think maybe she'd cool down a little, but nooooo, she-" She then noticed that Body was glaring at her. "What?"

"You know, putting her in charge was your idea," Body accused.

Head groaned in exasperation. "Oh, come on, not you too. You went along with it, remember?"

"It was a show of comradely support!" Body said indignantly. "Coupled with a moment of uncharacteristic sympathy! That doesn't mean it was a good idea!"

"Then you should have said something when-"

"Ahem."

The two of them stopping arguing and turned to see Mokou leaning against the doorframe, arms folded and an amused twinge of a smile on her face. "You know, even when your clothes are on, watching you two do _anything _together still looks strangely masturbatory." She looked from one Kaguya to the other. "This really does take arguing with yourself to a whole new level. Having a moment of personal conflict?"

"Shut up, Mokou," came the unified response.

"Heh. Well, _that's_ still the same at least." Mokou straightened, entwined her fingers, and stretched her arms over her head, cracking her back. "Though I guess it's kind of telling that you can't even get along with yourself. Maybe that's the reason you won't let your pet doctor remove me for good. Letting me keep killing really is an innovative form of suicide."

Body's vision went red. She took a step forward and opened her mouth, fully intending to unleash a blistering torrent of verbal abuse, but Head put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head. "Let me handle this," she said in a low voice. Body fumed, but she nodded.

Turning her attention to their smirking rival, Head said, "Mokou, dear, we know you're under a lot of pressure right now, and we are willing to cut you some slack because of it. But please try to remember what I said earlier: the same applies to you. So if you want us to give you a break but aren't willing to give us one in return, then frankly my dear, you can go to hell."

Mokou's half-smile melted and became a scowl. She looked like she was about to fire off some kind of retort, but managed to rein herself in. "Fine," she said through clenched teeth. "Have it your way." She turned around and stormed back inside.

The two Kaguyas looked at each other and they both shook their heads. "That girl," Body said as they moved to follow. "She's got some crazy issues."

"Tell me about it," Head shrugged. "Well, let's go see what weirdness awaits us."

The weirdness turned out to be a fair sized room with eight sides. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all made of black marble, polished so fine that their reflections were clearly seen. Painted into the floor were representations of Shinto gods. And, most interesting of all, standing in a ring around the room's perimeter was a series of freestanding doors, each one of a different color, design, and composition.

"Well, hello," Body said with a low whistle as she walked around the room, inspecting each door in turn. "This is new."

Head tapped the frame of a heavy steel door that was bound in chains and possessed an unusual number of locks. "Kind of cool, though. Mokou, this mean anything to you?"

Mokou, who had been standing by herself near the entrance, looked surprised at being addressed, but she said, "No, not really, not as a whole. That one though," she nodded at a crude door made of splintery wood, "that's the door to my house." She pointed at another one across from it, this one in considerably better shape. "And that's the door to Keine's school." Then she glanced at a double-door made from burned wood that sat directly opposite of the room's entrance. "And that one…" She frowned. "Well, it's kind of familiar. Can't put my finger on it though."

"Hey, some of these are ours too," Body said, focusing on a sliding paper door decorated with a swirling floral pattern. "Isn't this the door to my…our room?"

"Is it?" Head jogged over to join her. "Well, I'll be damned, it is." Another door caught her eye, this one made of bamboo. "And hey, that's the door to Eirin's office!"

"And we all know where _this _one came from," Mokou said, tapping a door made from a now very familiar silvery metal.

Now that they knew what they were looking for, it didn't take long for the three of them to identify the majority of the doors and their origins, though a few remained unrecognized.

"Well, this has got 'crossroads' written all over it," Head said. She stood in the room's center and slowly turned in a circle, looking from one door to the next. She focused her bedroom door. "You think that one leads back to that cave, the one that looked like our room?"

"It could go either way, honestly," Body said. "For all we know, just the doors are the same. Open the one to our room, and you could find yourself-"

"Falling through open air," Mokou finished for her. She looked uncomfortable about something, something other than their bizarre situation. "Hey, uh, guys. Look, about earlier…"

The two Kaguyas turned to look at her. "Yes….?"

"About…about the whole suicide thing…" Mokou rubbed the back of her neck and looked away. "Ah, forget it."

"Forget what?" Body said. She looked to her twin in bewilderment. "What's up with her?"

Head shrugged. "Got me."

"I said forget it!" Mokou snapped.

"All right, we will," Head said with a contemptuous roll of her eyes. She returned to her inspection of the doors. "Moron."

The three of them continued the rest of their work in silence, with Mokou conspicuously keeping her distance from the Kaguya twins. However, their search turned up nothing that wasn't immediately visible upon entering.

"That settles it then," Body said as she stepped back from the silver door. She put her hands on her hips and shook her head. "We're going to have to start opening them."

"Duh," said Head. She walked to the center of the room and floated a meter off the ground. Her body became stiff and straight, with one arm held at her side and the other extended fully out.

Mokou stared. "What the hell are you doing?"

"You ever play 'Spin the Bottle'?" Body asked. She leaned back against the wall and folded her arms.

"No."

"Figures. Well, you know how it's played, right?"

Mokou shrugged. "The basics, sure." Then she scowled. "She's not going to choose one of us to kiss, is she?"

"As if that would be a contest," Body snorted. "No, forget the juicy parts at the end. I'm just talking about the actual bottle spinning."

"Huh?"

Body nodded toward her twin. "Just watch."

Her arm still outstretched, Head started to spin in a circle, starting off slow but gradually picking up speed until she became a dizzying blur, one that was almost mesmerizing to watch. This continued for about thirty seconds until Body shouted, "NOW!"

Head immediately started slowing down, reducing her speed until she came to a full stop. When she did, her finger was pointed to one of the spaces between two doors.

"Fail," Body said.

Looking annoyed, Head turned a few centimeters to the right until she was pointing at one of the doors, this one made of steel and covered with so much rust that its primary colors were brown and orange.

"And we have our winner, ladies," Head said, putting her arm down. She smiled at Mokou. "Care to do the honors?"

"No," Mokou said. "You chose it, you open it."

"Fine, be that way." Head dropped to the floor and walked over to grab the door's handle. "Just stand over there and let us all the-huh?" She frowned when the door refused to budge. She gave it another tug, to similar results.

"What, is it locked?" Body said as she came in for a closer look.

"No," Head growled. She kept pulling. "Rusted tight."

Mokou cleared her throat. "Ah, that door giving you girls trouble? Need some help?"

"Shut up, Mokou," Head said. To Body, she said, "All right, grab the handle. Both of us at the same time."

The door squealed horribly on its ancient hinges, but working together the Kaguya twins managed to get it open the third of the way. Then a meaty hand pressed against it from the other side and gave it a push, effortlessly swinging it the rest of the way.

Surprised by the unexpected assistance, the Kaguya twins stumbled back and tripped over each other in an untidy heap. As for Mokou, she made no move to help them. She was too busy staring at the…thing standing in the doorway.

It appeared to be Human, though Mokou had never seen any Human that looked like this one did. It was well over seven, perhaps even eight feet tall, with a filthy body composed of heavy slabs of muscle. It wore a leather apron that might very well have been made from tanned Human skin. In one baby-sized fist it held a massive meat-cleaver, and over its head it wore a very uncomfortable looking pyramidal helmet with six sizes, the foremost one sticking out so far that how the thing managed to keep its balance was a thing of mystery.

The Kaguya twins stopping untangling themselves long enough to stare up at the newcomer, perplexity all over their faces. Head said something in the Lunarian language that needed no translation.

Mokou, however, didn't waste time being surprised. As soon as her mind registered that this thing was probably not friendly, she launched a sphere of flame directly at its chest. Whatever the hell it was, it must have been using some very flammable cologne, as its whole upper torso was immediately set alight. It staggered back through the doorway. Not interested in giving it the chance to recover, Mokou charged forward, leapt over the still-gaping Kaguyas, and hit the thing's chest feet-first, sending it tumbling back the rest of the way.

"A little help!" she shouted as she slammed her back against the door. That galvanized the Kaguya twins into action, and the three of them hastily forced the door shut.

"Okay, what in the hell was that thing?" Mokou said as she used a white-hot fingertip to weld the door to its frame. "Another one of your Lunarian monstrosities? Or was it from your stupid games?"

Body stalwartly ignored her, while Head shot her a dirty look. "Yeah, I'm not answering that."

"Surprise, surprise," Mokou said. She knelt down to finish sealing the door in place. "And is it just me, or is the worst shit we're facing come from _your _head? Heads. Whatever. I mean, sure, I'll claim responsibility for the sailors and those assholes back at the town, but-"

Kneeling saved her life. The ugly thing's cleaver suddenly burst through the top of the door, cutting right through the metal and passing through the space where Mokou's head had been mere seconds ago. Body, however, wasn't so lucky, as the cleaver retracted immediately only to burst through again in a different spot, this time cutting through Body's chest.

"Wha…" Body said, staring down at the blade now protruding from her left breast. She reached up to touch it. "Where did…"

"Body!" Head screamed as she lunged forward to yank her stupefied twin off the cleaver's bloodied blade. She then dragged Body by the armpits to the center of the room as Mokou engulfed the door in heat, melting both it and the cleaver down to scrap.

Head gently laid Body down. "Body?" she said urgently. "C-come, stay with me now."

Body, her face ashen from the blood loss, shuddered. She coughed weakly, a small trickle of blood coming out of her mouth. "Head?" she whispered.

"I'm here." Head took Body's hand and held it tightly. "Look, just h-hold on, okay? Focus on me now."

Body's eyes were starting to glaze over. "I…I don't think…I'm gonna…"

"Stop talking like that," Head said, her voice cracking. She forced a comforting smile. "You're gonna be okay, got it? I'm going to go find help, and you'll b-be back on your feet in no time."

Body let out a hissing laugh, which was swallowed up in another fit of coughing. "Liar," she rasped. "Head, listen…"

"I'm here," Head said. "I'm here."

"You…you got to keep going. See this…to the end." She reached up with one shaking hand to caress her twin's cheek and managed a small smile. "Promise me, okay?"

"O-of course," Head placed her hand over Body's and held it to her cheek. "And you're going to be there too, with me."

Body laughed again. "It's okay. Don't…don't worry, it's okay." Her eyes started to close. "So long…as there's one Kaguya left…I don't mind…"

She let out one last breath and lay still.

"Body?" Head said. She grabbed her twin's shoulders and shook them. "Body?" she said again, this time with greater urgency. "K-Kaguya? No. No, no, no, no, no!"

As Head collapsed sobbing over Body's prone form, Mokou, who had been watching the whole display in absolute befuddlement, chose that moment to speak up. "Uh, exactly what the hell are you guys doing?"

Furious, Head whirled around to face her. "Excuse me, this woman just _gave her life _in your place! Is it too much to ask that you show some damned respect?"

"But you said your immortality still works!" Mokou protested. She motioned toward Body. "So what's up with this charade?"

Body cranked one eye open to glower at her. "It's called _roleplaying," _she said, pushing herself up on her elbows. "Do it at the right time and in the right manner, and you can get some extra experience."

"Seriously Mokou, would it kill you to _not _ruin the scene every once in a while?" Head said as she helped Body to her feet.

Mokou's right hand twitched. "Okay," she said, mostly to herself. "See, it's because of bullshit like this that having two Kaguyas around is a back fucking idea. So, truce is off in five, four…"

"Oh, give us a break," Head said, giving an exaggerated roll of her eyes. "Like you'd really do it."

"Uh, Head?" Body said, eyeing Mokou nervously. "I think she's serious."

Both of Mokou's hands ignited. "THREE! TWO!"

"All right, all right!" Body said, holding up her palms. "Calm down! We'll ease up on the LARP! Forgive us for trying to inject a little sensitivity into this bitchfest!"

"Good," Mokou said. She snuffed out the fire and tried not to smile. Who would have thought that having Kaguya duplicating herself would finally give her the key needed to keep her in line?

"Okay, so your choice was a big fat failure, now it's my turn," Mokou said. She walked over to the door to her shack and yanked it open. "Let's see what-"

A raging flood gushed out of the door, knocking all three of them over and wasting no time in filling the room.

…

In a place without light, a burning slash appeared in the darkness. It cut up, then to the right, then down, and then to the left, forming a rectangular shape. Then someone kicked the rectangle through, opening a door to a world filled with smoke and screams.

The dark intruder stepped out of Hell. It sighed, brushed off its ragged dress, and picked the rectangle up to shove it back into place. The cries of agony cut off immediately.

"**What a disappointment," **it muttered. **"That weak, whining little idiot Rin Satsuki provided me with the second greatest struggle of my life, but the conjoined imaginations of the two most accomplished killers in recorded history can't even provide me with a decent opponent." **Sighing, it looked down at the knives it had in place of fingers. **"Okay, granted, I may be the incarnation of the****most accomplished killer of **_**all**_** of history, but the principle still stands. Where am I, anyway?"**

Its burning eyes swept back and forth; then they rolled in annoyance. **"Fan-freaking-tastic. Back in the big, empty room. I have to give you credit: what you lack in creativity, you complement with a lack of originality. What's next? Another velmick? Two? A bunch of mindless sailors **_**riding **_**two velmicks?"**

A low snarl told it that it wasn't far from the mark. Another pair of glowing eyes appeared to join that of the dark intruder, followed by another, and then another. Soon dozens of them were present, all of them staring directly at the dark intruder.

A few heartbeats passed as the dark intruder stared at the army arrayed before it. Then it threw its hands in the air and complained, **"The Zerk! Zerv. Whatzerevers. I rest my case. If first you don't succeed, keep right on recycling your failures, is that it?"**

"Recycle?" said a voice. It was low and female, but definitely inhuman. There was a strange buzzing quality to it, almost as if it had been recorded multiple times and then played over itself. "I wouldn't call it that. Think of it as…an upgraded version."

The speaker stepped out from the ranks of monstrosities to stand before the dark intruder. It was a woman, or had been at one time. Her body was covered with the same chitinous exoskeleton that armored the monsters, though in her case it was much more feminine in shape. Her "hair" was really more of a forest of segmented antennae, giving it the appearance of dreadlocks. From her back extended two wings that closely resembled those of the dark intruder, though lacking the membranes.

Unimpressed, the dark intruder looked her up and down once before saying, **"Upgraded, huh? Big deal. You can upgrade a pile of shit all you want, but it'll still just be a pile of shit."**

"Interesting way of putting things," said the newcomer. She spread her arms, indicating the creatures that stood at her beck and call. "Because a pile of shit is exactly what these fine fellows want to reduce you to."

"**Heard that song before, insect." **The dark intruder stuck the point of its sword into the ground and leaned on the pommel.** "You haven't forgotten what happened the last time your gang tried to come at me, have you?" **It chuckled in amusement.** "And FWI, with those insufferable twits no longer around, I really don't have any reason to hold back, do I? Who the hell are you, anyway?" **

"The speaker for your hosts' subconscious minds," came the answer.

"**No shit. But I asked who you were, not your job description."**

"Oh? Then you can call me the Queen of Blades."

"**That right?" **the dark intruder laughed. It swung up its own blade for all to see. **"And this would be, what, a defector? But enough of the meaningless titles and evasiveness. Just give me a damned answer already."**

A wry smile twisted the Queen of Blade's lips. "But the only name I can give you is 'Kerrigan,' which is unfortunately just as obsolete as 'Rumia Yagami.'"

The creature going under the name of Rumia Yagami stopped laughing. **"Well, you seem to know a thing or two about me," **she growled. She pointed at the newcomer's skeletal wings. **"Oh, and that's just being a copycat."**

"I don't recall seeing your name on the copyright," Kerrigan said in an even tone. "And it's true, if you wanted, you could reduce this place to a charnel house, no one's arguing that. But let's face the facts: nothing we throw at you is going to pose any kind of threat, so why bother continuing with the violence?"

"**I dunno, because it's fun?"**

"And here I thought you were growing bored. Or were your complaints mere bravado on your part?"

"**Good point," **Rumia admitted as she drove the point of its sword into the armored head of one of the bladed-arm snakes. It hissed and gurgled as its body withered. The others took no notice. **"And hey, can I just say that's it's really refreshing to encounter someone with more awareness than a typewriter?"**

"What of your former traveling partners?"

Rumia shrugged. It tugged its sword out of the dying creature. **"My case. I rest it." **She again scanned the rows and rows of drooling monsters. **"Well, if you're not here to fight, mind explaining why you showed up with a huge army of slimy beasties?"**

"We do not like you," came the blunt response. "And we want you gone."

Rumia blinked. **"Uh, okay. Well, I appreciate your honesty, but that kinda conflicts with **_**everything **_**you just said."**

"We want you gone, but clearly trying to stamp you out isn't working," Kerrigan clarified. "So we're trying a different tactic: tell us why you're here, what you want, and what we can do to get you gone as soon as possible."

This response brought forth a burst of surprised laughter. **"Is that so!" **the dark intruder gibed. **"Well, color me surprised! This is a lot more rational than what I'd been seeing…or expecting…from what's supposed to be a cesspot of those two idiots' primal urges." **

"Hmmm, let's just say that all this violence has stimulated a great deal of mental activity. And let's face the facts: your traveling companions want you gone too, and their deepest desires are ours."

Rumia clasped her hands over her heart. **"Aw, you're hurting my feelings! But fine, you want me out? I want to get out. So, if you want to give me directions to the exit before I wreck more of your stuff, sure, I'll deal."**

"I'm glad to hear it," Kerrigan said dryly. She looked like she was about to begin the promised conversation, but then paused and frowned. "Wait, are you not going to demand that the Zerg be removed for this discussion?"

Rumia cocked its head in amusement. **"Is that what they're called? I had forgotten. And does a monarch demand that all the ants in the room be removed before holding council?"**

This response was rewarded with a dark glower, but Kerrigan nodded. "Point…taken."

…

The tsunami knocked Mokou off her feet and sent her tumbling almost to the other end of the room. Her back slammed into the far door and she was held pinned by the force of the water, still incredibly even from all the way across the room. She could feel her body starting to flatten under the pressure.

She thought she heard one of the Kaguyas, she could not discern which, yell something, but it was incomprehensible over the roar that pounded her ears. However, she did note that the water level was rising; it was already up to her knees. How so much water was able to come out of such a relatively small doorway so quickly was not something she understood, nor did she consider the answer relevant. She only knew that this had gone on long enough.

A thought, and Mokou was suddenly surrounded by heat. No fire this time, just a shell of superheated air that extruded about a meter from her body from her body. The pressure lifted immediately as the water was turned to steam before reaching her. She still felt it slam into her front like a raging (and incredibly humid) wind, but it had lost enough of its bone-crushing power to allow her to move away from the door.

However, she was still left with the problem of the flood itself. Closing the door again would be impossible so long as the flood held it open. Mokou face the place where the force was the strongest, lined up her power with the precision that comes from eons of practice, and hurled a wave of heat in response.

Steam hissed and billowed. Mokou walked forward, keeping up the counterattack and moving the pressure further and further back until she reached the door itself. Then, with hand devoted to keeping the wave of heat alive, she reached out with the other to grab the door and pull it shut.

The torrent ceased immediately.

Sighing, Mokou allowed the air around her to return to normal. The room was still filled with thick steam, making it impossible to see.

"Kaguya?" she said. "Head? Body? Hello?" After enough moments had passed without an answer, she added, "Legs, Arms, Knees, Kidneys, Shoulders, Intestines? Anyone there?"

Still nothing, and Mokou was starting to grow uncomfortable. Any number of things could have happened while she was dealing with the water. Someone, or _something,_ might have snuck into the room and snatched them away or torn them to pieces. Usually that would be no great loss, but the current circumstances necessitated having at least one Kaguya around.

Slowly and cautiously, Mokou said, "Rumia? Are you here?"

She hadn't been expecting an answer, and thus was not disappointed when she received none. Mokou felt her way around until she found the wall. Then, putting it to her back, she stood and waited warily.

In time the steam lifted, clearing her view of the room. When it did, it didn't take her long to see that Head and Body were still in the room. They were both sprawled on the floor and quite dead, charred almost skeletal.

Confused, Mokou stared at the two red-and-black husks of meat, wondering how in the world that had happened. Then, with a flush of embarrassment, she realized the cause. The wave of heat may not have been directed toward them, but she had still filled the room with superheated steam. Whoops.

Not seeing what else she could do, Mokou sat down, crossed her legs, and waited. Before too long, Head and Body's hideously burned flesh started shift and regenerate. Pearl skin covered healing burns, and ash knitted together and expanded, reforming their clothing.

Head was the first to recover. She sat up, blinked several times, and looked around. Then her focus landed on Mokou and her face twisted into a scowl.

"Hey!" she said. "Way to charbroil us! The hell happened to our truce?"

Mokou shrugged sheepishly. "Didn't mean to."

"Bullshit!" Body snapped. She propped herself up one elbow and rubbed her eyes with the other hand, still managing to glower at Mokou while doing so. "So you just turned into a walking furnace by accident, is that it?"

Mokou sighed. "Look, I was trying to get rid of the water and forgot the steam would hurt you, okay? It was an accident. Sorry."

Head stumbled to her feet. "Sorry? You're 'sorry'?" she said as she helped Body rise. "Oh, that makes everything better, knowing that-" Then her eyes snapped wide open. "Sun, moon, and stars!"

"What?" Body said. Mokou tilted her head. She frowned.

Pointing a shaking finger at Mokou, Head said, "D-did you just _apologize _to us?"

Body understood then. She took a reflexive step back, her already pale face losing a few more shades of color. "Sun, moon, and stars," she gasped, in the exact same tone as her twin. "She _did!"_

"Oh, son of a bitch," Mokou moaned as she buried her face in both hands. "Really? This is happening now?"

"My gods," Body said, staring. "She's blushing. She actually blushing."

"Hold up!" Head said suddenly, her body stiffening with realization. "Earlier! You were trying to apologize then too, right?"

"Huh?" Body said. Mokou just moaned.

"You know!" Head told her twin. "When she got all embarrassed and evasive?"

"Oh yeah. Wait, she was!" Body let out a disbelieving laugh. "And don't forget, she also said sorry for burning us before us. You know, when Rumia cut our legs off and they wouldn't come back."

"Three times," Head said, shaking her namesake. "Fujiwara no Mokou, apologizing to us three times within twenty-four hours." She laughed as well. "Hey, Body?"

"Yeah?"

"Pinch me, I _must _be dreaming."

"Okay," Body said. She reached down to grab a handful of Head's behind.

"Hey!" Head said, indignantly slapping Body's hand away. "I was joking!"

"Then mean what you say next time!"

"All right!" Mokou said, now fully fed up with the nonsense. She rolled to her feet. "Enough! Yes, I said I was sorry! Deal with it!"

The twins stopped bickering and refocused on her. "Oh, we're trying," Body said with a grin. "It's just that this is such an unprecedented occasion that it's hard to take it."

Mokou growled. "Let's make something absolutely clear, bitches of the Moon. I don't like you, either of you. You were insufferable as one person, and now you're doubly so. But I keep my word, and I own up when I fuck up. So grow the hell up and get over it."

Head glanced at her twin. "She makes a decent point."

"I guess so," Body said. She sounded somewhat abashed.

"Glad to hear it," Mokou said, her voice icy cold. "Now that we've got _that _nonsense out of our systems, can we get back to-"

A drop of cool moisture hit the back of her hand. Blinking in surprise, Mokou looked up. The drop was soon by others.

"It's raining," she said flatly.

"We noticed," Head said as she pulled her robe up and over her head. "Guess all that steam cooled down."

"This quickly?" Body asked as she covered herself in the same way.

"Dream," her twin reminded her. "Sense. Nothing makes any."

"You can say that again," Mokou said darkly. She shoved her hands into her pockets and turned the heat back up. It wasn't enough to do any damage, but it kept her dry. "So, can we please continue before some horrible happens?"

"Right," Body said. She cracked her knuckles. "All right, my turn."

Marching up to her bedroom door, Body carefully looked it over with a critical eye. Then, standing at its side and out of the way of anything that might come out, she reached out and gave the door a hard push, making it slide open.

Everyone flinched as she did, with Body actually ducking and covering her head. However, this time nothing came out, no monsters or forces of nature. Still, it was nearly half a minute before anyone dared to move.

Body was the first to get up. Still maintain a safe distance between herself and the door, she moved around it until she could see inside.

"Whoa," she said. She looked over her shoulders. "Hey guys, come check-"

And then she was gone, swallowed up so thoroughly it was like she had never been there.

Before Mokou or Head could react, the reason for Body's abrupt disappearance made itself known. Much as Mokou's door had spewed out water, Kaguya's had started doing the opposite, pulling everything in with such powerful suction that Mokou was nearly swept off her feet. She grabbed onto the frame of the nearest door, the burned double-door that had grabbed her attention earlier, and held on for all she was worth.

Something seized her legs. Mokou felt panic rise, but then she looked down to see that Head had clasped her arms tightly around her knees.

"I hate this place!" Mokou called, her voice barely audible over the powerful suction.

"I'm starting to agree!" Head shouted back. She reached up with one hand. "Come on, give me a-"

Her grip slipped. She tried to grab Mokou's feet, but failed, and soon she was following her twin through the door.

"Crap, that's not good," Mokou muttered. She tried to pull herself behind the door, but then her fingers slipped as well, and soon she was hurtling through the air, heading straight toward the open door.

A moment later, she was waking up with a massive headache. She was still in the room of doors, sprawled awkwardly against the wall behind the hungry door. However, it was now closed, but with a large, ragged hole in its center.

The cause was easy to figure out. The door had closed right before Mokou had reached it, cutting off the suction. However, her momentum had remained the same, and she had sailed right through the flimsy paper to crash against the wall. Apparently smashing holes through these doors didn't grant access to the rooms beyond.

"Oh, hell no," Mokou said as she staggered to her feet. "No, no, no!" She rushed over to the door and pushed, trying to get it to slide open. It wouldn't budge.

"Hey!" she shouted. She gave the frame a hard kick. "That's _my _mortal enemy! Give her back!"

In answer, the door frame collapsed and fell apart.

Mokou's eye twitched. She stared down at the pile of wood and paper, wondering if it was now time for a blazing holocaust. If nothing else, it would make her feel better.

But it would also potentially destroy her only way of finding the Kaguya twins. Mumbling to herself, Mokou sat down, crossed her legs in front of her, and planted her chin on her fist as she stared down at the remains of Kaguya's bedroom door, which was quickly being ruined by the rain.

Then she jumped to her feet. Something had rattled loudly behind her, and was continuing to do so.

Turning around, she saw that the source was the burned door. Now that it held her full attention, there was something very disquieting about it. It was definitely familiar, and not in a good way. She just couldn't remember where she had seen it.

However, the way it was shaking and rattling was certainly noteworthy. Someone was on the other side and trying very hard to come through, though either the door was locked or something else was preventing it from opening. That didn't seem to discourage them any, as they kept right on shaking the double-door.

Mokou frowned. Remembering the colossal monster with the pyramid helmet, she approached slowly, balls of flame held at the ready. "Kaguya?" she said carefully. "Head? Body? That you?"

No answer. The door kept right on rattling.

Mokou took a deep breath. "Rumia? Are you there?"

The shaking paused, and for a moment Mokou thought she was going to get an answer. But then it just started back up again.

And then the whispers started.

"_Help us," _said a hissing voice. _"It's so hot."_

"_Save us, Miss Mokou."_

"_Why'd you leave, Miss Mokou?"_

"_Why did you abandon us?"_

"_She's coming."_

Okay, never mind. Fuck that. Mokou turned right around and stomped toward the door to Keine's school. Without a hesitation, she pulled it open and went right in, closing the door behind her, cutting off all but one last whisper.

"_The shadows are coming."_

…

"**It's like that old joke," **Rumia said as she idly speared a Zergling that had wandered too close. **"You know the one. 'Why did the chicken cross the road?'"**

"To get to the other side," Kerrigan said. "Yes, I know."

"**Well, in this case, think of me as the chicken."**

Kerrigan regarded her with calm eyes, an amused smile tugging at her lips. "Are you sure that's the metaphor you wish to use?"

Rumia bared her spiked teeth. **"That's the burden of being me. I know full well what I am, and I know full well what you are. Trust me, my pride is in no danger."**

Kerrigan's smile disappeared.

"**And getting back to my point, I'm the chicken, and all this," **Rumia spread her arms wide, **"is the road. And I have most urgent business with the other side." **She looked around for any Zerg within arms' distance and, upon finding none, walked over to the nearest rank and proceeded to amuse herself. **"Unfortunately, the actual act of crossing has been a royal bitch, as you just seem bound and determined to get in my way. Sociopathic sailors, giant worms, soldier rabbits with over-enthusiastic pimp hands, these jokers here, and anthropomorphic personifications of those two morons' Oedipus complexes. Honestly, if you want me out of here so badly, maybe you shouldn't do your damnedest to slow my progress?"**

"You're an invader," Kerrigan said as she watched Rumia carve up a big, burly Hydralisk. "A foreign body. We wished to eradicate you."

Rumia grunted. **"Is that so. But since that obviously has gone nowhere, can I count on something resembling cooperation?"**

"Tell us what you need."

"**Access to the core of Fujiwara no Mokou and Kaguya Houraisan's subconscious minds," **Rumia said without hesitation. **"It's the only place an exit can be created. And, of course, I'll need the girls themselves to unlock the way out."**

"Ah, that poses a problem," Kerrigan said. Her yellow eyes narrowed. "The core is, after all, our most vulnerable area. You understand if we're hesitant to grant access to such a destructive individual."

Rumia started laughing. **"Finally, someone with a brain! And look, I'm getting there one way or another. You keep getting in my way, and I'm guaranteed to leave a trail of devastation behind me." **She paused before a hulking behemoth-like beast, one that combined all the worst traits of a Goliath beetle and an elephant. She placed a single hand on one of its two curving tusks and watched as the spreading darkness worked its way up to the body. **"And I feel compelled to let you know: one I find my groove, the results tend to be…uncontained."**

As the struggling Ultralisk sank dying to the floor, Kerrigan said "And their cores are, in fact, the only way out?"

"**For me, yeah."**

"Explain."

Rumia shrugged. **"It's what I am. Think of me like a virus."**

"We already do," Kerrigan said, her voice lowering to a dry hiss.

"**Good, then we have something to work with. But in this situation, I'm not talking about the plague variety as I am the mental kind." **Rumia pressed the tip of one talon against her own temple. **"Once I infect a host, things start off small. Minor influencing of their emotional reactions, thought processes, decision-making, that sort of thing. Over time, it gets bigger and bigger, until they finally give in and accept what I have to offer. And when **_**that **_**happens, well, it's like the good book says: the two shall become one flesh. Their minds are mine, wholly and completely, from that moment forward."**

Kerrigan spread her hands. "And your point is…"

"**I came from a place not too dissimilar than this. A world of dreams and fantasies, formed from the parts of my mind I share with my host. And unlike my woefully idiotic traveling companions, I was able to leave it from any place I bloody well wanted, without so much as touching the core." **Rumia glanced around at the large, dark room and sighed. **"But here, not so much. Sure, I got **_**in **_**easily enough, but getting out and reaching my goal is a different sort of beast entirely. A way can only be opened from the center, the core. And unfortunately, I don't have the keys, which is why I need Kaguya and Mokou."**

"So we've gathered," Kerrigan said. "And let's just say we're willing to provide you with you want. When this door opens, you will do what?"

"**Leave," **Rumia said simply. She held up her gore-slicked blade and stared at it. **"I have no interest in this place or the minds from which it sprung. Once I'm gone, I'll be sure to lock up on my way out, and you can return to driving your wards insane and need not fear my interference in the future. You have my word."**

"For all _that's _worth."

Rumia smiled. She flicked the sword to one side, sending Zerg ichor splashing against the monsters that stood at the ready. **"Like I said, I'm getting what I want one way or another. How I get there, and what condition I leave this place when I leave, is entirely up to you."**

"You do leave us without much of a choice," Kerrigan admitted grimly. She extended her right hand. "All right, oh despised trespasser. We have a deal."

"**Was there ever any doubt?" **Rumia snickered. She extended her own hand, and the two monsters clasped talons.

Then Kerrigan jerked her arm back, yanking Rumia forward so that they were almost nose-to-nose. "Just so we're clear," Kerrigan drawled, "We still don't trust you. And while you may be our superior in terms of raw power, this is still our world. Cross us, and when you do make your inevitable exit, you'll do so bleeding."

Rumia blinked in surprise. Then she grinned. **"You really do come from Kaguya's head, don't you?"**

"As if Mokou had the imagination necessary to conjure me." Kerrigan released Rumia's hand and stepped back. "Well now, despised trespasser. Let's go make you someone else's problem."

…

Body didn't really remember much after being sucked through the doorway. She had rushed forward through some kind of corridor with the wind roaring loudly in her ears, and then everything had gone black.

Now she was inching her way back to consciousness, and her body was not happy about it. Everything ached, from the throbbing headache that assaulted her cranium to the sharp pains lancing through her ankles. Fortunately, being who she was, what would be a debilitating condition for most people was only mildly inconveniencing for her, and the pain was fading fast. As such, once she had started to reach some level of wakefulness, it didn't take long for her to open her eyes and look around.

She was outside and most definitely not on the Moon, which was a welcome change. She was lying in soft grass with her back against a heap of moss covered stones. Surrounding her were several bamboo trees, through which bright sunlight was shining. Though her senses were not as sharp as Mokou's, she could still hear water babbling nearby and the sound of voices further off.

"Hey, the sleeping princess awakes," she heard her own voice say. "Glad to have you back."

Blinking, Body turned to see that Head was nearby, sitting on the mossy stones. The stones surrounded a small pool, which was fed by a trickle of water too small to be properly called a waterfall that dripped down a rocky hill.

"Feeling okay?" Head asked.

"Gimme a minute," Body muttered as she straightened up. "Until then, not really."

Head nodded. "Yeah, you pretty much have the worst luck ever. I faceplanted in the grass, so I was able to wake up pretty quickly. But you hit these rocks back-first and snapped your spine. Ouchie."

"Figures," Body muttered. She gingerly ran her hand over her back and winced at the telltale splintery feeling of healing vertebrae. She looked up at her twin. "Mokou?"

"No sign of her. Guess she managed to hang on."

"And she didn't come after us, the cowardly bitch." Body carefully rose to her feet. "So, where the hell are we anyway?"

"What, you don't recognize it?" Head said. She touched the surface of the pool, sending ripples across its surface. "I'd think that bamboo at least would be a tip-off."

Body's eyebrows rose. Her twin was right. She did know this place. Very well, in fact. "The Bamboo Forest? We're back home?"

"Well, not really," Head said hesitantly.

Body nodded. "Still in dreamland, eh?"

"Ayup."

"But even so," Body pressed. "We're in the Bamboo Forest. That means Eientei has got to be close by. That means the center of our subconscious or whatever. That means we're almost done here!"

Head looked skyward and grimaced. "Well, not exactly…"

Body knew that look. It was one of her own, after all. "Head, what's going on? What aren't you telling me? Is Eientei not there or something?"

"Again, not really, but…" Head shook her head. "Look, I can't really explain it. You need to see it for yourself." She stood up and levitated off the ground. "Come on."

Mystified, Body followed her twin up above the treeline. Once there, she was able to get a good look at their surroundings.

Head had been right. This wasn't the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. Rather, it was more like the Bamboo Park of the Happy People Enjoying the Lovely Afternoon. Carefully maintained concrete paths now cut through the stalks, paths that were lined with wooden railings and lampposts. Large sections of the forest had been cleared away to make way for large expanses of perfectly cut grass. It was only in scant few areas, such as the one the Kaguya twins had woken up in, that the area bore any real resemblance to the forest they knew, and those areas were only a hop, skip, and a jump away from one of the paths or a grassy area.

And everywhere, there were people. Couples wandered the paths, holding hands and chatting away. Families gathered together around picnic spreads. Children and teenagers played in the grass under the watchful eyes of their elders. And, unlike the forest from Kaguya's memories, the population was not restricted to rabbits and wild fairies, though the former did seem to make up the majority. Rather, youkai from a dozen different species rubbed shoulders with Human and fairy alike, and did so without complaint. In sharp contrast to the old-fashioned and eclectic outfits preferred by native Gensokyians, the general fashion here leaned more toward that of the modern Outside World that Kaguya knew from her many black market goods.

But it didn't stop there. Beyond the park was a city, one unlike Kaguya had seen since being exiled from the Lunarian society. Large, multi-story structures loomed against the sky, all elegantly carved from white stone and glittering in the sunlight; Body could see everything from places of business to large shopping centers to a gigantic museum. Silvery vehicles zoomed to and fro through the streets. Statues, monuments, fountains, and other such decorations were everywhere, suggesting the city's population at least had refined aesthetic sensibilities. And again, they were everywhere: walking the sidewalks, coming in and out of the shops, dining at the open-air restaurants, or standing around talking.

It was still Gensokyo, that much was certain. Body was still able to pick out familiar landmarks, urbanized as they might have been. And the city didn't go on forever, just to where the border of the Bamboo Forest used to be. Beyond, the more familiar Gensokyian landscape could be seen, albeit crisscrossed with streets and dotted with wealthy estates.

Gaping, Body looked at her twin, who simply set her mouth in a straight line and nodded, as if to say, "Yup, this is happening."

Body closed her mouth. Unexpected change of surrounding or no, they still had a job to do. "Okay, this may or may not be bad. But no point in floating around staring. We still need to find the psychopath-"

"Which one?" Head drawled.

"Both. First the pyromaniac and then the liar. And then," she shrugged, "well, figure that out when we get to it."

"A capital idea," Head said, nodding. "And as it so happens, I know the perfect place to start." She turned and pointed.

The place where they had ended up was not too far from where Eientei would have been, back home. And, as it turned out, it was still there. Body knew it was Eientei, given that there was a large block of white quartz in front of its entrance with the word "EIENTEI" inscribed with gold letters. And unlike the white stone of the rest of the city, this was still made from the dark woods of the actual place.

However, this Eientei was larger, much larger. And unlike the actual place, it didn't seem to be a place of dwelling. Rather, given the official look of the place and the number of sharply dressed people coming and going, this Eientei served as the city's center of government. Okay granted, the actual Eientei did as well, but only in the sense that Kaguya represented the forest's interests to the rest of Gensokyo, and Eientei happened to be where she lived.

Head nodded to the building across the street. Hourai Clinic was there. Except here, it was now Hourai Hospital. And unlike Eirin's clinic, the only bamboo to be found was artfully arrayed in the grassy area between the sidewalks and the building itself. This was a fully modern, four-story structure, made from the same stone as the rest of the city. Like Eientei, this one also had a large sign out front, this one bearing a carved representation of a medical cross bordered by two bow-shaped constellations, the same sign Eirin wore on her hat.

The Kaguya twins looked at each other. "So," Body said.

"Yeah."

"Is this good or bad?"

"I have no freaking idea," Head said. "On the one hand, hey, Gensokyo's gotten all urbanized and industrialized. So, bad. On the other, it is a pretty city, and the people here seem happy. So, good."

"So it could go either way?"

"Pretty much, yeah." Head grabbed Body's hand and started to move toward Eientei. "Come on, let's go find out."

…

_Okay, maybe I did get a little kookier than normal. But hey, I needed to let off some steam, and let me tell you: working on this chapter was the perfect therapy after fixing that bloody mess over in IM. So yeah, things are good. :)_

_And it should be pointed out that the characters actions and beliefs are their own. Neither this story nor its author advocates having sex with yourself should the opportunity present itself. Unless, you know, you really want to._

_Until next time, everyone!_


	8. Past Sins and Future Possibilities

Past Sins and Future Possibilities

"_How did this happen?" the princess demanded as she bustled through the streets, ignoring the admiring looks of the people she passed. Behind her, her mentor struggled to keep pace._

"_We don't know," came the weary response. Her mentor looked completely haggard, an unusual look for her, but the current situation would justify the slip in her normally regal bearing. "Something happened when the caravan reached the top of the mountain."_

_Growling, the princess stopped to spin around and glare her mentor down. "What _kind _of something?" she demanded._

"_I just said we don't know," her mentor replied, not at all intimidated by the princess's ire. "It was some kind of attack. They reached the mountain, that much is clear, but something killed the emperor's men, and the Elixir was not among their bodies."_

"_Sun, moon, and stars," the princess muttered. "And you are _certain _it was not destroyed?"_

"_If it had been, we would know it," her mentor responded, a touch of irritation in her voice. "Volcanic eruptions tend to be rather noticeable."_

_A blushing young man approached the princess, a yellow flower clutched tightly in his hand. "Ex-excuse me princess," he said, nervously holding the flower toward her. "But I, ah, I wanted you to have, ah, I mean I saw this flower, and thought you'd want-"_

_Giving him only the briefest of contemptuous glances, the princess reached over to grab the young man's face with her hand. A shove, and he went flying all the way across the street and into the open doorway of a incense merchant. "So, not only did that bastard _reject _our incredibly generous gift, not only did the idiot try to _destroy _it, he couldn't even finish the job and let it get stolen!"_

"_So it seems," her mentor confirmed. Across the street, the young man stumbled out of the door in a daze. "She…she touched me," he said, awe in his voice. He grabbed a passerby and shouted into his face, "The princess actually touched me!"_

"_Well, great!" said the princess, throwing her arms into the air. "That's what we get for trying to butter up the local chief monkey! Now, some schmuck of a bandit gets to live forever! It's bad enough we have to live among these savages, but now one of their lowest of the low gets the single greatest accomplishment of the Lunarian people. I almost feel defiled, knowing that I'm going to be sharing this rock with that imbecile for the rest of eternity." Shaking her head, she turned around and resumed her angry pace through the town. "What was the emperor thinking, anyway? What kind of utter fool would throw away something like that?"_

"_Perhaps he disbelieved our claims of the Elixir's power?" her mentor suggested. "Maybe he thought we were trying to poison him. As I understand it, he is already quite upset with you for rejecting his offer of marriage."_

_Gritting her teeth, the princess snarled, "Don't start with me, I am _not _in the mood."_

"_As you wish, my lady," her mentor replied._

_Folding her arms, the princess stormed through the streets, heading toward the carriage that would take them out of this monkey nest and back to their home. "How did this happen?" she muttered to herself. "How-"_

"-did this happen?"

Body eyed her twin. "Well, it's quite simple," she said, speaking slowly as if to an idiot. "First we opened what looked like the door to our room. Then it started producing some kind of powerful suction that pulled us right through and crash-landed us in that park over there. Then we woke up to find-"

Head dug her thumbnail into the back of Body's hand. "Twit, I _know! _I meant, how did all this happen?" She waved a hand at the admittedly very lovely city that now stood where the Bamboo Forest of the Lost should have been. "So far, all the really detailed places all came from our memories, while all the weird, new places were all messed up. But we sure as hell never been here, and yet it's even more detailed than that crappy town that started worshipping us for one whole minute."

"Good point," Body admitted. "Maybe deep down, we've always wanted to tear down the forest and build a city?"

Head felt stricken. "But…but I _like _the forest?"

"I know, I'm just brainstorming." Body shrugged. "Well, when we find someone to interrogate, let's make a point of asking them."

Agreeing, Head quickened her pace, pulling Body along with her. The sooner they were off the streets, the better.

The toughest part was dealing with all the people. Kaguya wasn't exactly accustomed to crowds. Oh sure, Eientei would fill to capacity every time she hosted a party, and she had moved through large groups of people during her rare visits to the neighboring communities, but by-and-large, those had all been people she knew or were at least familiar with.

This throng was something else entirely. As Head and Body moved their way down the street, there was not a familiar face among them. That was discouraging, as they had been hoping that this confounded dream would dig into Kaguya's memories to find its cast of extras, but instead it had dropped them into a city of strangers.

Worsening the situation was the realization that the lack of recognition was very much mutual. No one seemed to know who they were. There was no flash of recognition in any of the faces that passed them, which couldn't bode well. Head had been nursing some hope that Kaguya Houraisan would still be the acknowledged head of state of this fictional city, but unless the populace was wholly ignorant of what their leader looked like, it seemed that she and Body were just a couple of pretty twins to these people.

Fortunately, their Hogwarts uniforms were contemporary enough to keep them from standing out. And while the city's residents weren't giving them the reverence that their status as former Lunarian royalty and current local Ringerleaders deserved, at least people around here seemed nice enough. The Kaguya twins got many friendly nods and smiles from those who made eye contact, though there were a few that looked annoyed when Head and Body accidentally brushed against them, along with a couple whose eyes lingered just a little too long on the girls as they walked by. That was actually comforting in a way. Having a city full of happy and nice people was all well and good, but you still needed a handful of jerks and letches to provide balance, because otherwise things just became creepy.

Head just wished that they could save time by flying all the way to Eientei, but judging how no one else was flying, it was presumed that doing so was discouraged, if not outright illegal, which was common enough in many communities. Until they had a better handle on the situation, blending in was all important.

"You know what this reminds me of?" Body said suddenly, startling Head out of her musings.

"Huh?"

Body waved a hand at the city all around them. "You know that one new goddess, Kanako Yasaka?"

Head gave her twin a withering look.

"Right, sorry, dumb question," Body quickly said. "But you know how she's always going on about how Gensokyo needs to stop living in the past, that progress is something that needs to be embraced, that science and magic can coexist just fine, yadda yadda yadda?"

"Sure," Head said, shrugging. "What about it?"

They stopped at an intersection and stood with a group of people waiting for the signal to cross. "Well, I was just thinking that if she ever saw this, she's probably cream her panties," Body said, rising up and down on her toes.

Head found herself agreeing. "No kidding. Hey, maybe that's what this means? That deep down inside, Kaguya agrees with her?"

The possibly made Body frown. "I…don't know. I've never really given it much thought, you know?"

"Obviously," Head drawled in her driest possible voice.

"Well, yeah. But maybe…" Body shook her head. "You know, I don't know about you, but this whole thing about us being the same person is starting to weird me out."

Head smirked. "Try not to think too much about it. We'll need all the sanity we can get, and Mokou is of absolutely no use in that department."

The signal changed, and everyone started to cross. As they fell in step with the movement of the crowd, Body said, "Oh, and speaking of which, how exactly is this going to work when we get free of Rin Satsuki? Will we just get absorbed back into a single person again, or will Kaguya have a split personality or something?"

Letting out a groan, Head said, "Body. Seriously. Shut up."

"Well, I'm just saying, it's something we need to think about."

Head shivered. While Body certainly had a point, the long-term implications of their current condition were too disturbing to think about right now. "Yeah, but later. One mental crisis at a time."

Pursing her lips, Body nodded. "Okay, fine. But seriously, there'd better be a later."

"Yeah, fine. Fair enough. We'll…we'll…" Head sighed. "Okay, maybe you got a point, and maybe Mokou did too. This whole thing with us arguing is just too freaking strange."

"Put Mokou and me on the same side again and I swear we're solving this existential crisis right here and now," Body said, her brow knitting into furious scowl. "Violently." This just made Head roll her eyes. This was starting to take self-loathing to its most literal extent. Maybe it was Mokou's absence that was making them snap at each other. They just needed someone to argue with.

The Kaguya twins reached the other side of the street and stood before Eientei v2. While the building materials and general aesthetic theme was the same as the original, this was no simple mansion. It was a huge, H-shaped building with five stories. Nestled between the two lower arms was a wide, white courtyard bordered by stone benches and rows of hedges bearing tiny violet flowers. In the courtyard's center, a raised, circular platform sat in the middle of a four-sided pool of water, with a statue of a rabbit soldier standing at attention at each of the pool's corners. As the twins came in closer, they noticed that a pattern had been etched into the platform's surface in gold, that of an ornate spoked wheel inside of as equally ornate ring.

Body frowned. "Hey, wait a minute. Isn't that our royal sigil?"

"Sure is," Head confirmed as she stretched onto her toe tips to get a better look. "Huh, I guess we are in charge around here."

"Then why in the hell doesn't anyone recognize us?"

"I don't know, could be anything. Maybe it's the outfits, maybe it's because there's two of us, maybe this version of Kaguya has a different haircut. Hell, maybe Kaguya Houraisan impersonators are a common sight these days."

"Dream on," Body said, rolling her eyes. "Which, I should point out, is exactly what we're doing."

Head raised an eyebrow. "So, forget the rational explanations and just chalk it up to the dream being a dick?"

"I think that's the safest thing to do. Unless we've got some deep-seated self-esteem issues we need to address."

"Yeah, no," Head said with a dismissive snort. She tugged on Body's hand. "Come on, let's go see if there's a third one of us running around."

She started toward the sliding glass doors, but was brought short when Body, still holding onto her hand, didn't follow.

"Problem?" Head asked.

After a moment of hesitation, Body said, "Well, I was thinking, maybe we should try the hospital first."

"The hospital…Wait, you mean try to find Eirin?"

"Why not?"

Head considered this. Actually, it was quite a good idea. Mokou had already run into a dream mentor taking the shape of someone she cared for and trusted, and had gained valuable information as a result. If they managed to locate some sort of manifestation of Eirin here, there was no reason why she couldn't do the same for them.

Besides, now that she thought about it, she really didn't have much of a desire to try to locate another duplicate of Kaguya Houraisan. Being split into two was interesting at first, but given the potential long-term problems, she wasn't eager to add a third to the mix, especially one that had been manufactured by the dream instead of being spun off from the original.

"All right," she said, turning away from the door. "Let's go find Eirin."

…

To Mokou's astonishment, the door to Keine's school actually led to Keine's school (and wasn't it just a perfect representation of how unbelievably fucked up things were when doors actually opening to the places they were supposed to was considered an anomaly?), or part of it anyway. Mokou found herself in the hallway that ran across the front of the building, with the children's cubby holes arranged in neat rows to her left and several photographs of varying sizes hanging on the wall to her right, all of them of Keine standing with the various classes she had taught over the years.

There were a few noticeable differences though. The left-hand wall was missing its windows, and the right-hand wall no longer had the two doorways, one at each end, to the classroom itself. Furthermore, Mokou could not see an end to the hall. It stretched on seemingly into infinity.

That was just fine with her. She wanted to put as much distance between her and the burnt door as possible.

Mokou started to run, her long, powerful legs propelling her faster and faster. The hallway kept going and going, with no exit coming into view, and no windows or doors appearing. However, as she pressed on, she couldn't help but notice a certain change occurring.

It started with the framed pictures. As Mokou ran, they continued to fill the wall to her right, far exceeding the number of classes the real Keine had taught and eventually starting to display her standing with ones that had never existed. There were classes comprised of fairies, of wild youkai, of ghosts, of Kaguya's rabbits, of leering adult men, of desiccated corpses, of cackling witches, and so forth. There was one "class" made up entirely of bloody Mokou pieces, and another of more wild youkai, these ones of the unfriendly variety, looking like they were surrounding their next meal rather than standing with their teacher. And yet, in every single one, Keine looked exactly the same, standing with her hands folded over her lap and a motherly smile on her face.

The other wall wasn't much better. While the cubby holes didn't multiply themselves endlessly, the wall itself changed. The texture darkened, became rough. In fact, the whole hallway was. Mokou could feel the floor roughening beneath her bare feet, could see the ceiling warping as well. The further she got, the more the hallway looked less like Keine's school, and more like…

Oh no.

Mokou increased her speed, but that just made things worse. Now the pictures themselves were extending and moving about, their frames wrapping around each other like crisscrossing roads. The hallway itself seemed to be losing shape, twisting round and round so that the floor passed over where the ceiling used to be and back again, though there was no change in gravity.

She narrowed her eyes, focused on a point directly in front of her, and kept running. Sooner or later, she would come out of the freakiness or it would take the form of something within her power to deal with. Until then, she just had to keep moving, to get as far away from the burnt as she could. It terrified her for reasons she couldn't fully explain. Sure, the handle rattling and those whispers were certainly creepy, but creepy she could handle, no problem. It was the implications that scared her, that the door was connected to a memory she had no eagerness to revisit, even if she wasn't exactly sure what memory it was.

Or rather, she knew _exactly _which memory was clawing out of the recesses of her subconscious, but she didn't want to fully confront it, not on any level.

And then gravity looked her way, saw what she was doing, and decided that it didn't like it.

Mokou fell forward, the spiraling hallway becoming a pit. Rather than let herself tumble head-over-heels, she straightened herself out, pressed her arms to her sides, stuck her legs straight up, and plummeted headfirst like a comet. The walls flew past in a dizzying blur, the endless framed pictures bleeding into each other. She ignored them and kept her attention on what was directly in front of her. Sooner or later, she would reach the bottom. Then she could take stock of her new surroundings and figure out her next move, or die on impact, resurrect, take stock of her surroundings, and figure out her next move.

Then the tunnel twisted around, becoming horizontal again. Mokou plunged forward regardless, turning her fall into flight. The tunnel curved up and down once, twice, three times, humping like a bumpy road.

And then she was out. The tunnel opened up to a large room. Mokou, who had been engaging in deadly dogfights centuries before dogfights were even named, turned sharply upward, looped around, and dropped to the floor, landing in a crouch. She didn't even bother arresting her tremendous velocity, trusting in the weirdness of the dream to keep physics from shattering her legs.

It did, and Mokou stood up.

The room she was in was perfectly square, and made from wood so burnt that it was almost ash. The tunnel's exit was directly behind her. And what she saw before her sent her heart plummeting as fast as she had just a moment ago.

It was the burnt door, the same one she had been fleeing. The handle was still jiggling as something on the other side tried to get through. There were no whispers, but the improvement was marginal.

Hanging above the door was one final framed photograph. Like the others, it showed Keine Kamishirasawa among group of children. But while the others cast her as a teacher standing before her students, this one had her as one of the children. It showed Keine as she had been sixty years ago, a tiny, skinny shrimp of a girl in a grey uniform. She had always been small for her age, and looked several years younger than she really was. Everyone had assumed that she was simply a late bloomer, but unknown to everyone save for Keine, her closest circle of friends, and Mokou herself, the real explanation was her youkai blood, which had slowed her aging by half. Even now, though she was over seventy years old, she looked like a woman in her thirties.

Swallowing, Mokou stood transfixed by the picture. Standing to one side of the children was a tired, but kind looking woman, whose wrinkle-lined face and brown hair shot through with grey made her look much older than she had been. It had been years since Mokou had thought of Satoko Yume, the headmistress of the Aoki Yume Children's Home. Despite being the woman's elder by a _considerable _amount, Mokou had held a great amount of admiration for Satoko. Her selfless commitment to the children under her care had been both fascinating and refreshing to Mokou, whose incredibly long life had revolved around endless hate, pain, and death.

But more eerie than seeing Satoko's face again was seeing her own. Mokou herself was in the picture. She stood in the back, across from Satoko, wearing the baggy red pants held up by suspenders and white blouse that would in time become her trademark, though at that point in time it lacked the many fireproofing charms she had sewn into it and tied into her hair. Her hands were in her pockets, and she was looking at the camera with an expression that might, with some imagination, be taken for a small smile. Standing around her were four other adults, three women and one man, the other helpers at the children's home.

And then there were the children. All told, there were eighteen of them, ranging from being barely old enough to walk to their late teens, each of them wearing the same grey uniform as Keine. Mokou's hands had developed a slight tremble, but she continued to stare at their faces as the memories came roaring back. Standing next to Keine was the ever-cheerful, always in trouble Kohta Momoi, wearing his perpetual wide grin. Over there was bratty Haruko Kamijima, who, with the assistance of her cronies Eiko Goto and Hayate Maeda, always tried to bully the other children and was always frustrated about how Mokou never let them get away with it. Off to the side was loopy Kana Anaberal, who always had her head in the clouds and would often wander off to chase butterflies and fairies. Near the back was Melissa Garcia, the western girl who had entered Gensokyo and the orphanage fairly late in her childhood and had been entranced by everything. Over there was slow-witted but very kind Keiichi Matsuda, who could always be counted on think with his stomach first.

And there were others, whose names and faces Mokou had long forgotten but jumped out at her as soon as she saw them, dug up from whatever sealed-off part of her subconscious they had been tucked away in. Children whom she had helped take care of and protected for two years. Children whom Mokou, who was not known for easily opening up to people, had grown close to, become fond of. Children whom she had tried very hard to forget.

But there was one child in particular that seized her attention: the spunky blonde-haired, brown-eyed girl standing to the other side of Keine, whose nature was best defined by her mischievous smirk and the fact that her right hand was creeping up behind Keine's head in the form of bunny ears. Rumia Yagami herself. Rumia the troublemaker. Rumia the prankster. Rumia, Kohta's partner in crime and Keine's self-appointed protector. Always getting into fights, always seeking out new and creative ways to break the rules, constantly picking on the kids who she didn't like and sticking up for the ones she did. She had been a real handful, that was for certain, but while Keine had always been Mokou's favorite, she had harbored a special fondness for the rest of that terrible trio.

Which would explain why it had taken her so long to remember Rumia in the first place. Having a kid that you liked and looked after end up tortured and murdered in horrible fashion would definitely make for good motivation to block her from one's memory.

Except that had apparently not been the case. Rumia was alive. She had survived what those men had done to her, and in the process turned into…something else. A youkai at the very least, and her scary competence and how easily lying came to her meant that she wasn't one that should be taken likely.

Of course, it was still possible that this was simply a random youkai who shared her name, but all things considered she truly doubted it. Or maybe she was just another nightmare, albeit a highly advanced one, formed from memories long since buried. But that didn't really add up, seeing how Rumia didn't act anything like any of the other dream-people. Even Keine, the most "natural" acting one she had met thus far, hadn't displayed anywhere near the level of free-thinking that Rumia had.

And then, almost as if it felt the need to drive the point home, the picture started to burn. Tiny licks of flame appeared on its surface and spread outward in three places to eat it away. As Mokou stared, the group of children burned away, their faces crisping and turning to shreds of ash, until nothing was left, save for the tiny scrap in the corner that held Mokou's face and the part near the bottom that Rumia occupied, though the girl's eyes had been burned away, leaving two black holes.

Okay, that couldn't mean anything good.

Mokou's gaze dipped from the ruined picture to that literally damned door. The jiggling persisted still, as whatever was on the other side tried to come through. Mokou tensed her muscles.

Sure enough, the whispers begun again. _"Miss Mokou, save us."_

"_Please let us out."_

"_It's too hot. Let us out."_

Her hands squeezed into trembling fists, Mokou managed to control the panic she felt rising and ask, "Who are you?"

It was something of a redundant question, as her returning memories already gave her a very good idea of who was trapped beyond the door. But still, some line of communication had to be established, and it was as good as an opening line as any.

Unfortunately, it went unanswered. _"Please. Please let us out."_

"_It's too hot."_

"_We're burning up."_

That did it. Mokou gritted her teeth, forced her legs to carry her over to the door, and grabbed the partially melted handle. Despite the claims of intense heat, it was cold to the touch, perhaps too cold. Bracing herself, Mokou turned the handle and pulled the door open.

An angry wave of flame roared out of the doorway, bowling her over.

…

As soon as the Kaguya twins entered the hospital, they immediately noticed several differences between its waiting room and the one back in Hourai Clinic. For one, nothing was made from bamboo, though there were several living bamboo stalks growing out of planters that lined the walls. For another, instead of a small little rectangular receptionist desk off to one side, this one was donut shaped, round with a hollow center, sat in the center of the room, and had no fewer than six receptionists dressed in smart uniforms helping patients and visitors as they came in. Furthermore, while Eirin had managed to jury-rig a few overhead fans to keep the place cool, the hospital's climate was obviously controlled by a far more advanced system. Also, they looked absolutely nothing alike. Except for one minor detail.

Frowning, Head leaned over to examine one of the magazines that sat on a low table. "Uh, yeah, I think we've got this same one back at the clinic."

"We do," Body confirmed after flipping through its pages. "And it's still out of date. Some things just never change, I guess."

"Except we don't know if this is an alternate universe or possible future," Head pointed out.

Body let out a very unladylike snort and tossed the magazine back onto the table. "If it's the second, then it's _really _out of date. Like, it should be in a museum or something."

One of the receptionists was currently free, so the twins headed toward her. She was a youkai of some kind, presumably a moth, if her feathery antennae and powdery wings were any indication. Seeing the twins approach, she smiled warmly and said, "Hello, and welcome to Hourai Hospital! How can I help you?"

Hourai Hospital. So, like the clinic, it also bore Kaguya's name. Well, that at least was a promising sign. "Yes, you can," Head replied. Summoning up as much regal authority as she could, she said, "We are here to see Dr. Eirin Yagokoro. Contact her immediately."

The moth's smile wavered, but steadied. "Do you have an appointment?"

"Appointment? I hardly think one is required," Head said, sending off her best "I am better than you, so don't you dare annoy me, you worthless peon" glower. "After all, she _will _want to see us."

Now the receptionist's eyes were starting to narrow. "I'm sorry, but the doctor is very busy today. May I have your names, please?"

That told Head two things: firstly, that Eirin existed in this…whatever the hell it was, which was good. Unfortunately, it was increasingly possible that Kaguya Houraisan did not. Hoping that their alternate self was simply known for having a different sense of fashion, Head said, "Of course. Tell her that Princess Kaguya Houraisan is here to see her." Exchanging a glance with Body, she added, "In the plural."

All conversation around them ceased immediately, and everyone turned to stare at them. The receptionist's face froze, that smile dying on her lips. Head felt a small measure of satisfaction. So, her name was known after all. That was a step in the right direction.

"Princess…Kaguya?" the receptionist said at last. "You are claiming to be Princess Kaguya?"

Adding her glower to her twin's, Body said, "We claim nothing. Who we are is who we are, and requires no verification. And to be quite frank, we have better things to do with our time than waste it conversing with a witless-"

That was when a very large hand came down onto her shoulder. The hand was attached to a very large arm, which in turn was attached to a very large chest, which finally belonged to a very large rabbit youkai, who was dressed in a sleek, black security uniform. A very large sleek, black security uniform. Accompanying him was an equally large Human, dressed in the same uniform.

"That's enough, Miss," he said in a voice deep enough to plumb. "Come with us."

Head glanced at the security guards and sighed. "I guess we should have said 'Please,' huh?"

"It really wouldn't have made a difference," said the receptionist.

"Somehow I am completely unsurprised." Stepping away from the desk, she glanced to Body, who had a sullen look on her face. "Well, okay. It was worth a shot. Now let's-"

"Oh, hell with this!" Body snapped. Then, before anyone could react, she grabbed the wrist of the rabbit security guard, shoved her backside against him, and tossed him over her shoulder and sent him sprawling over the desk, where he collided with the startled receptionist and knocked her backwards, sending them both to the floor in a messy heap.

Before they landed, Body was already in motion. She jabbed her elbow sharply into the Human's solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to involuntarily double over with a pained gasp. This just made his chin collide with her raised knee, snapping his head back again and sending him stumbling back a couple of steps. Body then leapt into the air, drew her legs back, and slammed them both into his chest.

The man looked strong, but despite still looking like a teenaged girl, Kaguya was a physical powerhouse. He went flying.

Everyone recoiled from the sudden display of violence. Some fled, while others were too shocked to move. Head had to admit that she was a little surprised by how quickly things had gone downhill, but not by much. Body had been born from the same person as herself, after all.

Still, she was a bit annoyed. "Oh yeah, sure," she said as Body landed on her back. "Brilliant idea, Conan. Just beat them up. They'll be so eager to help us now."

Glaring at her, Body drew her legs back and leapt up to her feet. "Excuse me, but have you forgotten that _this isn't real? _That these people are literally figments of our shared imagination? We don't have time to play these stupid games! We need to find our way back to Mokou, take out Rumia, and get back at Rin Satsuki, and we need to do it now!"

"Right," Head drawled as she casually leaned back against the desk. Out of the corner of her eye, she noted that those who had not yet run away were exchanging uncomfortable glances, with many of them slowly edging away from the identical crazy girls. "And remind me: how exactly will acting like a violent lunatic and getting a full security detail sent at us speed things along? Because if I recall, almost every time we've had to fight an army, things got complicated. Remember the sailors?"

"Remember how easily they went down?" Body countered. "Besides, we don't need to _beat _anyone, just get past them. And let's face it, with the two of us, that'll be a cakewalk."

If for no other reason than to rise to her challenge, more uniformed security guards burst onto the scene. About ten of them rushed out from the hospital's interior and took up position on either side of the security desk, while another dozen came in through the front door. Any remaining onlookers were quickly rushed away as the Kaguya twins were surrounded.

Head shot a dirty look at her twin. "See?" she said.

"Well, at least they're taking us seriously," Body remarked. Not looking at all concerned, she quickly surveyed their opponents while calculating the odds in her head. Her eyes fell upon the cowering receptionists and her gaze turned ugly. "Okay, just out of curiosity, which one of you fools tripped the alarm?"

"Body, tell me honestly: does it _really _matter?"

"All right you two," said a guard whose uniform was a bit different from the others, evidently an officer of some kind. "Let's not have any trouble. Now, get down on the floor and put your hands on your head."

Body glanced at Head and arched an eyebrow. "Well?" she said, smirking. "You heard the man. Get on the floor so I can put my hands on you."

"Aha. Aha. Ha. No." To the guards, Head said, "All right guys. Look. This is a real pretty scenario thing you've got going. But Body's right. We know what's going on, and you know what's going on, so let's stop playacting."

In response, each and every security guard present, including the two Body had thrown around, pulled out a small, white card and held them at the ready.

Gaping in disbelief, Head and Body stared at the grim-faced men and women surrounding them. Then they looked at each other. Her mouth moving silently, Head gestured toward the guards. Body shook her head and shrugged.

Then they burst out laughing. "S-s-seriously?" Head sputtered. "Spellcards? You're…you're going to use _danmaku_ on us?"

"Oh wow, this is too much," Body agreed. She looked again at the now confused guards and fell over the receptionist desk, cackling.

And then a glowing red arrowhead smacked into the back of her hand. It exploded upon impact, leaving a small scorch mark.

Body stopped laughing. A look of surprise on her face, she straightened up again and goggled at the back of her hand. Though the black smudge disappeared quickly, everyone had seen the bullet it.

"Sun. Moon. Stars," she breathed. Her eyes flitted up to stare at Head. "They _are _using danmaku! That's adorable!"

That did it. Head and Body fell over each other in hysterics, neither of them able to remain standing. "Danmaku," Body kept repeating as she clung to her twin, as if she were trying to convince herself. "They're using danmaku!"

The security officer stared at the strange sight before him, as did everyone else. It was clear that this wasn't how any of them expected this encounter to go, and were at a loss about how to deal with it. "So!" he said, trying to sound authoritative. "That, ah, was a warning shot! Now, you…you two better start cooperating, or…or things will get. Uh, nasty?"

In answer, Body just sat up long enough to point at him and screech out, "Danmaku! BWAHAHAHA!"

That did it. Nobody, mindless NPC's included, enjoys being openly mocked, especially not by a couple of potentially mad teenaged girls who earlier assaulted their coworkers without warning or provocation. The security officer's eyes narrowed into dangerous slits as the bewilderment melted away into anger. "All right, think spellcard rules are real funny, do you? Like to laugh at danmaku? Well, in that case, you won't mind being buried by it." He glanced to the gathered guards and took a deep breath. "OPEN FI-"

"NO!" shouted a new voice, one louder and much more commanding than his. "This foolishness ends NOW!"

The Kaguya twins' laughter died immediately, and less than a second later the whole room went silent.

A pair of hard shoes clip-clopped their way through the room at a brisk pace, and the newcomer said, "This is a _hospital. _We do not have shootouts in my hospital. Everyone will stand down now, or I will be _quite_ put out."

Head slowly inhaled, her lungs expanding as her head raised and her eyes went wide with surprise and hope. Her gaze met Body's, who wore much the same expression.

"Doctor," the officer said, though not disrespectfully. "These girls have-"

"I know what they've done, captain. We saw the whole thing on the cameras. This changes nothing. Stand down."

And then another voice, this one _intimately_ familiar, joined the first. "You heard the doctor. We'll handle things from here. Shoo, now. All of you."

Body made a squeaking sound of surprise. Head did not, though that was mainly because she had forgotten how to use her vocal cords. It couldn't be…

The lobby cleared so quickly that it was difficult to imagine that there had been a fully armed security detachment surrounding the girls not five seconds earlier. The civilians disappeared with them, as did the receptionists. Head and Body were left alone with the two newcomers.

Trying to swallow and finding her throat so dry as to render the act nearly impossible, Head separated from Body and the two rose to their feet. A woman stood just behind the recently vacated receptionist desk, a Lunarian like Kaguya. Tall and perfect, she was in possession of ethereal beauty and regal bearing. Her skin was pearl-white, her posture perfect, and she moved with strength and confidence. The lines of her face were sharp but not to the point of severity, and her piercing eyes were the color of thunderstorms. Her silver hair flowed down her back in a tightly controlled braid. She wore a dark blue knee-length skirt over black stockings, a vest of the same color, high-heels, and a blood-red button-down shirt.

She was beautiful, yes, there was no denying this. But she wasn't attractive. She was beautiful in the same way a black hole was beautiful, the same way a raging blizzard was beautiful. It was a beauty that was to be admired and perhaps feared, not lusted after.

Head would have called out Eirin's name, but the sight of the other person frazzled her mind. Eirin's companion was in many ways similar to the doctor, in that she was also a Lunarian of the noble stock thus breathtakingly beautiful. Her glossy hair was so black that it seemed to absorb all light, and was cut in the classic Hime style. She wore a pale lavender pantsuit and had a golden emblem of a tiny bejeweled branch pinned to her tie. Her dark eyes were crinkled with amusement as she watched Head and Body react to her presence.

Eirin, however, was not so amused. She glowered at the twins, her arms folded over her breast. "Well now," she said icily. "You two have finally arrived. And within less than five minutes, you have assaulted my employees and disrupted my lunch with the prime minister here. Really now girls, I know the road has been hard, but was all that _really _necessary?"

"Oh, go easy on them," murmured Prime Minister Kaguya Houraisan. "Let's not forget who was responsible for their education."

"Sun. Moon. And Stars," Head breathed as she stared openly at her new mirror image, the second she had met today.

Body was agreement, though she forwent Lunarian terminology for a far more appropriate Earth phrase. "Hot. Fucking. _Damn!" _She looked to her twin. "That settles it. As soon as we get back, we're getting one of those suits."

"Absolutely. Hey, uh, you're not getting the same thoughts I am, are you?"

"Only if the word 'threesome' features predominantly."

"Yeah, it kinda does."

Sighing, Eirin turned toward Kaguya. "Your doppelgangers seem to have raised narcissism to an art form."

"I thought that was already well-established," the Prime Minister said. "If their earlier sexual encounter was any indication."

Head's brow rose. "You saw that?"

Kaguya inclined her head. "Indeed. My compliments on quickly taken advantage of the situation."

"Huh." A lecherous grin spread across Head's face. "And…it didn't give you any ideas, did it? Regarding _other _possible situations and things that could be taken advantage of?"

"Tempting," Kaguya said, touching her chin with one hand and resting the other in the crux of the opposite elbow. "But I'm afraid I must decline. Time is, as they say, of the essence. And you two need to come with us."

"Now when you say _come-" _Head started to say, but Body stomped on her foot.

"Where to?" Body asked.

"Where do you think?" Eirin said. She tilted her head over her shoulder, toward a pair of doorways that Head assumed were the elevators. "To my private office. There is much we need to discuss."

…

Mokou was of course unhurt by the flame itself, but the force of it still knocked her head over heels. Her instinct, honed and sharpened by centuries of constant hand-to-hand combat, took over, and she added her power of flight to her momentum; not with the intention of stopping it, but to control it, turning and twisting her body around so that she landed in a wary crouch, facing the open door and ready for whatever came out.

She was to be disappointed. The fire itself tapered off after that initial blast, and though plenty of smoke flowed from the doorway, there was nothing else to welcome her. The whispers had stopped, and if anyone had truly been standing on the other side, they were long gone.

Even so, Mokou remained in place. The smoke didn't harm her any more than the fire did, but it still obscured her sight, so she stayed in her crouch and waited for it to clear.

After nearly a minute had gone by, enough of the smoke had dispersed for her to see that there was nobody within. Not letting her guard down, Mokou rose up and moved with caution toward the door. Then, when nothing leapt out to tear off her face, she went through, fully expecting a nightmare.

She got one, though not the one she had been expecting. Rather than coming into the burnt-out husk of the Aoki Yume Children's Home, it led her outdoors. She stood on the edge of a wide, grassy field, bordered by a forest. It was night, and the sky overhead was blotted out by a canopy of angry black clouds. A harsh wind blew, bitter and cold.

Mokou's blood was already running cold, but now it froze up completely. This was no dream, this was a memory, one just as deeply buried as the rest from that time. She had once stood on the edge of this very field, gaping at the scene in horror. For her, it had been the end of the happiest two years of her life, cut off in the cruelest manner possible.

The grass was all dead, shriveled black. In the field's center a circle had been forcibly cleared away by some kind of blast of energy. And within the circle were corpses.

Some were maimed, there limbs broken and scattered. Others were cut right through by some kind of sharp instrument. Others were still whole, but that didn't make them any less dead. Many of them had fallen beyond the borders of the circle, as if they had been struck down while attempting to flee. All of them had their flesh was as withered black, just like the grass, and those who still possessed recognizable faces were permanently twisted into grimaces of pure terror.

Mokou's shaking fists tightened and she closed her eyes. _Get a grip, _she ordered herself. _You've seen this before, you can do it again. Remember what you know now, and learn what you can._

Once she was sure that she was calm enough, Mokou entered the field.

It was strange, how real everything felt. Granted, everything about this nightmarish adventure had felt real, no matter how surreal the scenario might have been, but if she didn't know better, she could have convinced herself that she was back in Gensokyo. The dry grass crumbling to dust under her feet, the chill wind pulling at her clothes, and, most of all, the smell of ash. It was thick enough to make her nose itch and her eyes water. That in itself was disturbing, as her resistance to such things should have filtered it out. That, more than anything else, had told her that things were horribly wrong, even moreso than the corpses.

However, while the air was certainly filled with death, it did not smell of it. There was no reek of rot. All life had been fully sucked away from the field, leaving nothing but withered husks behind.

She did her best to ignore them as she stepped into the circle. Instead, her attention was on the pile of wood in its center. Most of it was obviously the remains of a bonfire, one had been long since spent. A crude wooden cross stuck crookedly out of the pile, one that was on the verge of falling over. Stuck to the end of each crossbeam was a skeletal hand, their wrists impaled by rough iron nails. That was it, just two hands. The rest of the unfortunate crucified person was gone.

Her mouth dry, Mokou forced herself to investigate the scene. The first time around, she had seen this charnel house and assumed the worst. This time, she went to each corpse individually, turning them over with her foot if she had to, and examined their faces.

In time, she found was she was looking for but hoped she would not find: the body of a little girl. The child was curled up on her side, arms hugging her stomach and legs brought up into a tight ball. Unlike the others, this body was not completely shriveled black, and she could still make out the shredded remains of the uniform she wore, enough to confirm her as one of Satoko's.

Mokou's life was driven by hate and anger, but it was wholly directed toward an individual who could take it. And as much as she often felt otherwise, she wasn't a monster. As far as she had fallen, as many horrible things as she had done, she had never, _ever _stooped so low as to hurt a child. Even her twisted mind refused to entertain the idea, and even her hardened heart was soft enough to be stricken by the sight of such senseless cruelty.

"Is it as horrible as you remember?" a voice said softly from behind her.

Mokou stiffened. She hadn't heard anyone approach. She whirled around, her hands igniting into flame. Then she saw who it was.

"Satoko!" she breathed, and extinguished the fire. The Aoki Yume Children's Home's headmistress stood there, among the bodies, hands clasped in front of her lap.

Mokou instinctively moved toward her, perhaps to embrace her, perhaps to confirm that Satoko was really there, but stopped when she saw the look on the headmistress's face. Satoko glowered at her with barely restrained fury. Her cheeks were trembling, and sparks flashed in her bespectacled eyes. Even so, her voice was calm and collected.

"I asked you a question, Mokou," Satoko said. "I would appreciate an answer."

Shuddering, Mokou stepped back and reminded herself that this wasn't the real Satoko. This was just another manifestation. But even so, she still owed the lady an answer.

"Yes," Mokou said after composing herself. "If anything, it's even worse."

"Explain."

Mokou glanced over the tableau of carcasses. "The last time…the last time I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know what I would see, and…and I didn't stay long. I didn't want to see, so I left quickly."

"You forgot. Afterward, you forgot all about it."

"Yeah," Mokou said. It was the truth, after all.

"You made yourself forget," Satoko said. "Forced it out of your mind and buried it. Buried _us." _Her eyes, already narrow with anger, were now little more than slits.

Mokou tried to swallow and found that she couldn't. "Y-yeah," she said, and started coughing.

"Why?"

"Because-" The rest of her answer was choked off by the coughing fit. Mokou doubled over, hacking. When she had regained sufficient control, she slowly straightened up, wiped her mouth, and said, "Because I…I didn't want to remember. It was too much. You guys were…were the only thing that's made me happy since I drank the Hourai Elixir thirteen hundred years ago, and remembering you meant remembering…remembering _this." _She gestured to the horror that surrounded them. "And remembering what happened to your home. I…" Again, her voice was starting to choke, this time not by ash. "I couldn't. I…just couldn't."

"Couldn't let yourself remember," Satoko said, her eerily calm voice devoid of compassion. "Couldn't bring yourself to live with how you failed."

Mokou couldn't answer.

"Failed," Satoko repeated. "Failed to save us. You, the immortal, the only one of us who would not have been threatened by those men. You, the avatar of the Phoenix, who could have kept the fire from hurting us." Then something in Satoko seemed to snap, as all the rage she had been keeping out of her voice poured forth.

"You, the _killer!" _she snarled as she marched forward and struck Mokou across the face. Given Satoko's slight physique, the blow should have hit with all the power of a gentle summer rain. Instead, it knocked her off her feet and sent her spinning into the dirt. "You, the _murderer! _You could have stopped those men, killed them in their tracks! You could have saved us all!"

"No," Mokou coughed as she pushed herself to her knees. "No, I'm not…not that kind of killer. Kaguya doesn't…doesn't count."

"Oh, you're not, are you?" Satoko spat on her. "Liar."

"I'm not," Mokou insisted. "I don't hurt mortals."

Then Satoko threw her head back and let out an ear-splitting cackle. Mokou could only sit and stare at the spine-chilling sight. Satoko's laughter was broken and deranged, completely at odds with Mokou's returning memories of the kind, motherly woman.

"She doesn't hurt mortals," Satoko mocked. "Oh my, what a web of lies we have woven."

The earth split, and a holocaust erupted. The entire field was consumed by a raging inferno. For some moments, Mokou's vision was completely obscured by the flames, and then the fires died down enough for her to see…

…_Lord Sonozika, on his knees before her. His armor was in pieces, partially melted in places. His face was streaked with ash, and he bled from a forehead wound. His eyes were wide with fear and madness._

_All around him, the bodies of his guards lay burning, scorched down to the bone. His one remaining warrior had fallen and was trying desperately to crawl away._

"_What…what are you doing, you fool?" Lord Sonozika choked out. "Do something! Stop her!"_

_Instead of leaping to his lord's defense, the warrior stumbled to his feet and fled. Smirking, Mokou let him go. The shame of his cowardice would be worse than anything she could do to him._

"_Where are you going?" Sonozika called after him. "__Tsukito? Get back here, you-"_

_Mokou raised a glowing hand, and Sonozika's calls for help died on his lips._

"_No," he said, scooting back with one hand while raising the other in front of his face. "No. Mercy, I implore you!"_

_Oh, this was so sweet. The great Lord Sonozika, broken and defeated before her. Not only that, instead of facing his death with the solemn dignity of a warrior, he was now begging for his worthless life. _

"_Mercy?" she repeated, mocking his pleas. "Is that what you want? Like you showed my brother, hmmm?" She laughed. "No, there is no mercy. Not from me, and not for scum like you."_

"_No!" he shouted. "No, you cannot-"_

-and the fires vanished. Still caught up in the memory, Mokou fell to her hands and knees, gasping.

Now _that _hadn't been a memory she had willingly buried, nor was it one that she was especially ashamed of. Lord Sonozika had been as much to blame for everything she had lost as Kaguya was; more, actually. And unlike the Moon Bitch, he hadn't come back after she had slowly roasted his body from the outside in, laughing as his skin had darkened, turned brittle, and cracked; watching the upper layer of fat melt and leak through the cracks in runny, yellow rivulets; savoring the smell as his flesh burned away, exposing his flabby muscles, which in turn became nothing more than cooked meat; and his screams, _oh _his screams! That had been the best part! Watching that arrogant, sadistic bastard bake inside his own armor, all the while squealing like the fat pig he was, _that _had been a memory worth treasuring.

"And was it?" demanded a gruff voice, one that was most definitely not Satoko's.

Still shaking, Mokou looked up to see a pair of sandaled feet standing before her. These were attached to a pair of trunk-like legs covered by the folds of a long blue robe, which in turn supported a wide-chested torso. Even before she got to the face she knew it would have dark brown hair slicked with silver; long, hollow cheeks with a thin, wispy beard at the tip of the chin; and dark, piercing eyes, boiling with contempt.

Her father. Only he no longer wore a Lunarian uniform, but was dressed in the colors of the long-dead Fujiwara family. Furthermore, he was no longer ignoring her. She wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

Crossing his thickly muscled arms over his chest, the memory of the long-dead Fujiwara no Fuhito glowered down at the single survivor of his forgotten family. "I asked you a question," he rumbled. "You will answer."

"What?" Mokou said. She cringed at how stupid she sounded, but given the numbness of her mind, it was difficult not to.

But rather than reprimanding her, he simply clarified: "That memory. Was it worth treasuring?"

Taking a deep breath, Mokou pushed herself up to her feet so that she and her father were at least eye-to-eye. "I thought so at the time," she said.

His arms still folded, her father tilted his head to one side, waiting for the rest of her answer.

"He…he had taken so much from us, from me," Mokou said. "F-from you. I hated him so much, so when I knew he couldn't stop me anymore…"

"Yes," he said. "He could not. No matter how many times you were struck down, you rose up again. His warriors and his sorceries could not stop you. It was very well done."

His words were closer to a sneer than a congratulation. Mokou had to fight the urge to drop her eyes in humiliation. If her father had actually been standing before her, she doubted she would have been able to resist.

He walked past her, hands dropping to clasp behind his back. "And yet, while your attack certainly cut off the head of the Sonozika family and smashed its teeth, you left the job noticeably incomplete." There was a lengthy pause, and then he said, "Why?"

"Incomplete?" Mokou asked.

"Yes," he said without turning around. "You had the chance to atone for your…misjudgments. You could have won the war for us right then and there. And yet, while you were successful in achieving your revenge, both on him and his hired swords, the Sonozika family remained. They regained their power. In fact, I do believe they are currently the most powerful Human family in Gensokyo, or am I mistaken?"

"You…you mean I should have wiped the rest of them out?" Mokou asked. "B-but family weren't a part of the war…his children weren't grown!"

"So?"

Mokou had to remind herself that she was not actually speaking to the ghost of her father, that this was nothing more than a manifestation of her unresolved "daddy issues," as Rumia had called them. Setting herself, she said, "I may not be a saint, but I don't make war on children."

Fuhito let out a dry chuckle. "Oh, do you not? And what would the town of Kamakura say to such a claim?"

His words almost hurt as much as if he had physically punched her. So, the whole self-loathing gang was going to take part. "Kamakura was an accident," she said.

"An accident?" Satoko said.

Mokou's head whipped around. Satoko was still there, standing behind her. "An accident," she said again. "Well. I'm sure the people who dwelled there would find your words to be comforting. All those families who burned like kindling, those children whose flesh melted away from their bones, much like Lord Sonozika's melted away from his."

Mokou gritted her teeth. "An. _Accident."_

"An accident, you say?" Fuhito said as he turned around to face her. "Perhaps. But Lord Sonozika. His warriors. The pirates. Were they an accident?"

"Of course not! They deserved it!"

"Did they? And what of Iwakasa? Did he deserve it?"

Mokou sucked in a sharp breath.

A cruel smile twisting her lips, Satoko said, "You remember him, don't you? The leader of the emperor's soldiers responsible for destroying the very Elixir that gave you your immortality. Became quite friendly with you, didn't he? Helped you up the mountain, gave you water when you collapsed, and saved you when that mountain god starting killing his friends. But when you found out what he was carrying, how did you repay his kindness?"

Mokou tried to answer, but the only noise she could make was a strangled choke. She stared down at her hands, and at-

-_the blood-splattered stone knife as it slipped from her fingers to land in the dirt. In front of her, Iwakasa had fallen to his knees. He clutched at the gash in his neck, as if he could stifle the flow of blood with his fingers alone._

"_Wh-wha-" he tried to say, but the blood choked off his voice. He looked up at his murderer, his eyes wide with confusion, as if his imminent death were beyond his comprehension. Considering the source, it probably was._

_Mokou felt numb. She hadn't been planning to kill him; it had just happened. One moment they had been arguing about the eventual fate of the Moon Princess's Elixir of Immortality, and then things had gotten jumbled and confusion. And now…_

_Iwakasa's eyes went blank. He fell limply onto his side, bloody fingers still around his neck._

"_No, wait," Mokou said. She dropped to her knees and shook him by the shoulder. "I…I didn't mean to…it was a…"_

"…an accident!" Mokou screamed. "An accident! I didn't mean to-"

Then she realized that she was back in the dead field, on her knees and hands outstretched to touch a dead man that no longer there. Feeling the glares of her accusers, she took a shuddering breath and stood to her feet.

"And yet you claim to not war upon mortals," Satoko reminded her. "You deny your murders with one breath, and attempt to justify them with the next."

Mokou didn't try to argue. They had her with that one. And yet… "If there's a point to all this, let's hear it."

"Have you been struck deaf?" Fuhito demanded. "Were you not paying attention?"

"You thoroughly destroyed those who had murdered your brother, wiped them out within minutes," Satoko said. "Innocents have too suffered and died by your hand. And since then, you have only become more skilled, more deadly, more powerful."

"Centuries of constant practice will do that to a person," Mokou said. Despite the shame these memories had elicited, she was starting to get annoyed.

"You could have used that power to save us!" Satoko shouted. "You've had no problems destroying those who hurt you before, why couldn't you do it then? Why weren't you there? Why didn't you-"

"Enough!"

Satoko fell silent.

Mokou looked from her former boss to her dead father, two of the only people she had held in high esteem, and the two people she had failed the most thoroughly. There was no denying the things she had done, or failed to do. There was no denying the pain she had wrought or could have prevented. They were right.

But again, she had to remember that they weren't real. The actual Fujiwara no Fuhito and Satoko Yumi were long dead and now existed as nothing more than memories. Was she tormented by guilt over how she had hurt her father, how she had failed and forgotten Satoko? Did the memory of Iwakasa still haunt her? Of course. She couldn't be caught in this nightmare if she wasn't.

But she didn't have time for regrets now. Time was of the essence, and she needed to get moving. After all, she had eternity to suffer for her sins afterward.

Both Fuhito and Satoko stood silently, watching her and waiting. Mokou licked her lips and said, "I know I deserve your hate, but I can't take back what I did to you. I don't have that kind of power."

"You only have the power to survive," Satoko said. "And destroy."

Mokou nodded at her. "Yes. You're right. But right now, I need to do something different. I need to find someone and-"

"And do what?" Satoko snapped. "Once you've found Rumia, what are you going to do her? Finish the job? Succeed where those monsters failed?"

"I…don't know," Mokou admitted. "I don't know what I'm going to do, because I don't know what she's become. But I do I need to find her, somehow." She spread her hands. "I need to talk to her. Maybe I'll be able to get the truth from her, find out what happened. Maybe I'll be able to help her."

"And if you cannot?"

"Then…" Mokou swallowed. "Then maybe I'll be able to keep her from being the same kind of monster as the ones that hurt her."

"You mean destroy her," Satoko said, a note of accusation in her voice. "Kill the child you couldn't protect."

Mokou met her dark eyes without flinching. "If that truly is Rumia, then that child died years ago."

Satoko didn't answer.

"Please," Mokou implored them. "I need help. Help me find her. Help me find Kaguya. And help me do…whatever I'll need to. Afterward, feel free to plague me with nightmares until the heat death of the universe, I don't care. Wake me up screaming every night if you have to! But for now, I need your help."

Fuhito's eyes narrowed. "That…might not be enough."

"What?" Mokou blinked. "What do you mean?"

"He means you've been betrayed," said another voice, this one just as familiar but far more welcome than the others.

"Keine," Mokou breathed. She whirled around. Keine had appeared in the field and was now walking toward them. Relief surging through her, Mokou bolted forward to embrace the memory of the one person in the world that did not hate her.

Keine held her warmly for a moment, and Mokou felt some of her tension ease away. For all her faults, for all her failures, for all the people she had hurt or let down, at least she had not failed Keine. She was not a complete blight to society. It felt good to be reminded of this.

"Took you long enough," Mokou murmured. "Any longer and they would have started trying to convince me to kill myself."

Keine let out a small laugh. "They would have been disappointed then. They'd have an easier time convincing a rock to fly."

"Mmmm. No kidding. And in Gensokyo? There probably is one that can."

They parted, albeit reluctantly on Mokou's part, and Mokou touched a hand to Keine's cheek. "I'm sorry," she said simply. "That I couldn't help you friends."

A small smile, sad but not regretful, tugged at Keine's lips. She reached up to cover Mokou's hand with her own. "Then let's hurry up and get your out of here. That way, you can tell me in person."

"Agreed," Mokou said. She let her hand fall. Keine's hand followed, and closed around it tightly. Strengthened by the support, Mokou turned to face her accusers, who were standing silently and watching the pair with smoldering eyes.

"Well?" she said. "Come on, I may be immortal, but I don't have all day. Tell me what I need to know."

Fuhito slowly inhaled, filling his massive chest, and let it out in a low growl. "Ask her," he said, inclining his toward Keine.

"Hmmm, good point." Mokou turned back to Keine. "Okay, what do I need to know? What did you mean when you said that I was betrayed? You mean by Rumia? Because at this point, that really isn't an earth-shaking revelation."

"Granted, but that wasn't what I meant," Keine said. Her eyes grew troubled. "I meant by Kaguya Houraisan."

Mokou blanched. "W-w-what?" she stammered. "She…Kaguya…huh? She released Keine's hand to grab at her own head as she tried to make sense of this contradictory information.

At any other time, had someone told her that the Moon Bitch, her most hated enemy, had turned on her, Mokou's reaction would have been a deadpan, "You don't say?" But now, with the two of them stuck together in this hellhole, she had at least counted on them to be on the same side, at least for the duration of this nightmare. Why would Kaguya betray her now? Cooperating had been her idea, after all! Moreover, who had she betrayed her to in the first place?

Seeing Mokou's confusion, Keine clarified, "No, not the part of her you've been traveling with. Not Head and Body. In fact, they're as much the betrayed as you are. More so, in fact."

Mokou stopped fretting. She raised one white eyebrow and said, "Okay…You're _really _going to have to explain that better."

"She means you've been betrayed by Kaguya's subconscious," Satoko said, reentering the conversation. "We all have been. It has ceased its attempts to destroy Rumia and has entered into an alliance with her."

Mokou's head whipped toward her. "Wait, you mean the part of her that sent that velvet-"

"Velmick."

"Right, ugly worm thing. That sent that thing and those rabbit soldiers and all those stupid monsters from her stupid games?"

"Yes," Keine said. Her mouth set into a straight line. "Apparently, it has concluded that the best way to be rid of her is to hurry her along her way, and has agreed to concede to her demands in the meantime. And she had demanded that the two of you be used to open the way out."

"It has already snared Kaguya's conscious mind," Fuhito said. "As we speak, she is being deceived and led along like a chicken to the slaughter." He smiled savagely. "I will admit, it is not a distasteful state of things, but in the long run it runs contrary to your purposes."

"Rumia must not be allowed to escape," Satoko said. "While we do not understand her full intentions, it is clear that the long-term ramifications will be…"

"Ten shades of horrible, yeah I kind of figured," Mokou said. She shook her head. "So, Kaguya's own mind turned on her, huh?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Fuhito said.

Mokou laughed. "Oh, I can't wait to rub _this _into her face."

"You might want to hold off on that," Keine said. "After all, she's not exactly…unique, in that regard." She nodded toward Fuhito and Satoko.

Mokou shrugged. "Hey, self-loathing is one thing. This is the first time I've heard of someone's mind launching a full-on conspiracy against them." Then she turned somber. "And I need to go save her from the kid I used to be friends with. What a world."

"One that would not have come to pass," Satoko snapped, "had you been there to prevent-"

"Shut up, Satoko," Keine said. Satoko huffed but complied.

To Mokou, Keine said, "You need to hurry. Find Head and Body, and tell them the truth. Find Rumia, and…find out the truth. From there, do what you must."

Mokou grimaced, but she nodded. She had done horrible things before. This was just going to be another one.

The ground trembled, and a door rose out of the ash. Mokou raised an eyebrow. It was again the burned door of Satoko's orphanage, though viewed from the other side.

"Where will that take me?" she asked.

"To the absolute last place you want to go," Keine answered.

Mokou folded her arms and waited.

Sighing, Keine clarified, "Kaguya's subconscious has independently created quite the intricate dream, and is trying to trap Head and Body inside. This will take you to them."

"Ah," Mokou said, nodding. "So I'm headed deep into the Moonbitch's mind. Well, isn't that a world of suck." She glanced at the door and frowned. "But wait, if you guys represent my subconscious, and you're sending me there, does that mean I _subconsciously _want to go-"

"Mokou?" Keine interrupted, stopping Mokou with a hand to her shoulder. "Do us all a favor and _don't _think too deeply about it."

Mokou nodded again, conceding the point. There were too many disturbing psychological implications connected to this conversation as it was. Perhaps it was time to admit that her basket was full of cracked eggs and seek some professional help.

"Mokou, do you really believe that will do any good?" Keine asked. "Most everyone in Gensokyo is one kind of a basketcase or another. It's practically a country-sized asylum."

"Stop reading my mind," Mokou said.

"Mokou, we _are _your-"

"That's it, I'm done," Mokou said, throwing her hands into the air and stomping toward the door. "This detour started off horrific and terrifying, and now it's just stupid and annoying. I'm going to get plenty of that in Kaguya's idiotic excuse for a mind, I don't need it from my own."

Fortunately, the door remained perfectly inert as she approached. Reaching out to touch the handle, Mokou took a moment to steady herself. She had seen a good portion of Kaguya's subconscious already, and it had been an atrocious experience. Now she was about to head right into the thick of it. Oh yeah. This was going to suck.

"Mokou," her father said suddenly.

Mokou stiffened. Manifestation of her unresolved issues or not, this was the first time during this whole miserable excuse for an adventure that her father had said her name.

"Y-yes?" she said, glancing over her shoulder.

Curiously enough, her father was not looking at her with contempt. Rather, his expression was contemplative, as if a strange thought had just occurred to him. "Why do you hate Kaguya?" he asked.

The question actually made Mokou reel on her feet. She spun around and braced her back against the door for support. "W-what?" she gaped. "The _hell? _You? You of all people is asking me that question? You're both my _father _and my freaking _subconscious! _If anyone knows, it should be you!"

"Yes," he said with a nod. "But do you?"

Unable to think of a response, Mokou just stared.

Glancing at Mokou's father, Keine put in, "He's right. I think you'd better consider the question and come up with a concrete answer, before this is over."

Her skin crawling and her face twisting up in confusion, Mokou shook her head, turned around, and turned the handle.

The door didn't open.

Frowning, Mokou checked to see if it was unlocked. Seeing that it was, she jiggled the handle harder, trying to get it to move.

"It gets stuck, when you try to open it from within," Satoko pointed out. "You need to really-"

"Fucking hell," Mokou growled. She leapt into the air and slammed both feet into the door. This time, it gave way enough for her to shove it the rest of the way.

That done, Mokou plunged through, slamming the door shut behind her.

…

_And here is the final update for the three-year anniversary of writing fanfiction! I…honestly don't have a whole lot to say that hasn't been said already, except that RoSD has only a couple more updates to go before it's done. What will happen to Kaguya and Mokou then? How will they deal with the Rumia problem? What effect will this have on Imperfect Metamorphosis? Stay tuned to find out!_

_Until next time, everyone! _


	9. Fiction

Fiction

_She fell._

_She fell and landed with a cry as she tumbled roughly in the dirt. Weeping, she struggled to rise, but her foot got tangled in the hem of her torn and soiled robe, sending her back down again. She couldn't find the will to try again, so instead she curled up into a miserable ball as gasping sobs forced their way out of her throat and tears of shame made muddy trails down her cheeks. All around her, people passed by without speaking to her, people she knew, people she could probably name if she were to lift her head to see their faces. And not one stopped to help her, to ask what was wrong, to give her comfort. Though her banishment had happened scarcely an hour ago, they already knew; everyone did. She no longer had a family, and with them had departed all of her friends. Now she was alone in a village of familiar strangers._

_Her fingers curled into a fist, and she angrily slammed it into the dirt. It wasn't right! She had done no wrong! Or at least, she hadn't intended to. She had only wanted what was best for Father. But everything had gone wrong. Father had failed the tasks and returned in disgrace. The immortal princess had rejected him, just as she had rejected so many others. And when the girl had learned that the last remaining dose of the fabled Elixir of Immortality was being transported as a gift to the Emperor, she had seized upon the opportunity to salvage things, to ensure that at least one member of her family was guaranteed life. But things had gone so horribly wrong, and now she was disgraced and disinherited, forced to forever bear her shame. _

_As she lay weeping, she came to realize that someone was standing before her, a woman, silently watching her. Wiping her eyes with her grubby sleeve, the girl looked up to see a pair of sandaled feet directly in front of her face. These feet were attached to a pair of smooth, hairless legs that led up to a knee-length silk robe, one-half of which was dyed emerald green and the other sapphire blue. Over the breast on the green side was a golden sun, and a silver crescent moon hung near the opposite hip. A long, slender neck rose out of the bejeweled collar, and the face above was both beautiful and cruel: with a strong, pointed chin; full lips that were curled into a mocking sneer; and startling blue eyes that were crinkled with amusement. The woman's hair was as dark as ink and hung over half her face, partially shrouding her left eye. In her left hand was a silver wand, with thin smoke rising from one end._

_The girl knew her at once, though she had only ever seen her from afar. It was the witch-woman, the one said to be the friend of evil youkai and demons, who sold her talents to the highest bidder and had no remorse over the pain she caused. Quite the contrary, she seemed to enjoy it._

"_Well now," the witch-woman said. "Aren't you in a pitiful state."_

_The girl gaped up at her. She tried to speak but found that she had lost the ability._

"_Come, come," the witch-woman said, gesturing with her fingers. A web of spun gold covered her right hand. "Stand up now."_

_For a moment the girl could only stare. Then, with great reluctance, she heaved herself to her feet. Even standing at her full height the top of her head barely reached the witch-woman's chin._

"_That's better," said the witch-woman. She inserted one end of her wand, the one without smoke, into her mouth and inhaled deeply. When she exhaled, more smoke seeped from her nostrils. When the girl realized the wand's purpose, she felt both fascinated and repulsed. A device for inhaling smoke? Why would anyone want such a thing?_

"_So," the witch-woman said, more smoke billowing from her mouth as she spoke. "Word has reached my ears that you're the one responsible for the Emperor never receiving his lovely gift from the Moon Princess. What's more, the tales say that you took it for yourself, gaining what every man, woman, and child has sought after since the dark years. As I understand it, this had got quite a few people rather upset with you." Before the girl could answer, the witch-woman added, "Though I also hear that the great fool was in the process of having it destroyed, so I don't know what all the fuss is about. If he does not want to taste the fruit of eternity, why shouldn't someone else have it instead? Madness, I tell you."_

_The girl found her tongue then. "I…I didn't mean to…I mean, I wanted it for Father, not-"_

"_Child, it doesn't matter what you _meant _to do. I have no doubt you embarked with the noblest intentions, but the fact remains that you drank from the Moon Princess's gift. You took the power intended for another, and so you will now live forever. You have transcended humanity and became an immortal, a legend. And you didn't even have to become a youkai to do it! Congratulations." The witch-woman took more smoke from her wand and laughed. "I have no doubt they'll soon be writing songs and stories about you, each one more untrue than the last." She laughed again. "Well, that is one advantage you have over others that have been burdened with being a legend: at least you'll still be around to provide edits should the tales become too ridiculous."_

_The girl said nothing. She looked down at her feet._

_The witch-woman studied the girl's downcast face for a few moments before asking a surprising question. "Are you afraid of me?"_

_The girl blinked. She tried to think of an inoffensive answer, but none came to mind. So instead, she just nodded._

"_You are? You? The immortal?" The witch-woman shrugged. "Hmmm, everyone is, it seems. It's funny most of the time, but after a while it becomes quite bothersome." The woman held her wand away from her and tapped ash from the smoking side. "Well, you should be, you know. After all, I have half a mind to bring you home with me and take you apart, just to see if I can't extract the secret to true immortality from your liver."_

_The girl felt icy fear seize her heart. She stumbled back, her hands raised in defense. A thought, and flames erupted around her hands, singing the ends of her sleeves._

_The witch-woman looked amused. "Oh, do calm down," she said. She waved her hand, and two small clouds thick with humidity formed around the girl's hands, snuffing out the flames. "I said I was tempted to do so, not that I was actually going to do it."_

_The girl stared at her hands. Never had her fires been so easily quenched. It terrified her, but at the same time she felt hot anger ignite. "You're lying," she found herself saying. "It's what you do. That's what they all say." A part of her quelled at her own words, insisting that she shouldn't say such things to the witch-woman's face. But in light of all that had happened, that part was very small, and the rest of her had ceased to care._

_But the witch-woman only laughed. "Oh, am I? Ah, honesty. So refreshing." Then, placing her hand on her hips, the witch-woman leaned over to look the girl in the eye. "Now, you may fear me, but everyone does. Do you hate me as well?"_

_This time the girl didn't look away. "You work for the Sonozikas."_

"_Whom you have ample reason to hate," the witch-woman said. "Given the numerous assassination attempts, multiple slanderous campaigns to soil your father's name, and the bloody pieces your brother was reduced to." She shrugged. "Well, I wasn't there for that last one, but I will not deny that I did render to them a number of services. Those lovely defenses around their estate, the ones your family has been finding so incredibly frustrating, are of my creation, I do confess." Then she smiled. "Though if you insist on hating me due to my association with your enemies, you might want to reconsider. After all, just as you are no longer numbered among Fujiwara no Fuhito's children, Sonozika no __Yoritomo_ _is no longer numbered among my clients."_

_The girl inhaled sharply. She had not known this, and as far as she knew, her family didn't either. "When?" was all she could think to say._

"_Quite recently. The fat fool had never been punctual with his payments, and when I took it upon myself to tactfully remind him of our agreements, his response was…less than polite." She shook her head and let out a dramatic sigh. "Men. Always so sure of their power, always so blinded by their arrogance. You'd think they would learn from their predecessors, but alas…"_

_The girl was stunned. The witch-woman had been the primary reason her own family had never been able to gain any sort of advantage over the Sonozikas. And if she was truly no longer working for them… "What of all those enchantments you provided for them?" she asked. "All those traps and weapons and the like?"_

_The witch-woman sneer sharpened. "Oh, those. As I understand it, the poor boy has been convinced that since they are currently in his possession, they will continue to function as they've always have, even after he's offended their creator." She inhaled more smoke, held it in, and lazily let it out. "Even as we speak, he's seeking to bolster his forces, searching out other witch-women and hiring various mercenaries." She arched a single eyebrow meaningfully. "Including the same ones responsible for your dear brother's death. They're in dock at __Kamakura right now, to carry out the negotiations."_

_The girl said nothing._

"_Still, I really don't think that arsenal I provided for him is going to function much longer. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes the source of all manner of bad fortune for him. It's this feeling I have." Her mouth lifted in a sinister smile as she leaned in closer to speak softly into the girl's ear. "May I offer a complimentary piece of advice? From one outcast to another."_

"_I'm listening," the girl said._

"_You may have been dishonored and ejected from your family. You may now be one of the untouchables, little better than a youkai. Your old life and all you ever hoped for may now lie in ruins. But in light of what you've become, all you've gained and lost, I think you'll find that a great many opportunities are about to become available to you, and I dare say you will find immortality to be quite useful in the pursuit of a certain pastime, one you have always craved."_

"_And what would that be?"_

"_Vengeance." With that, the witch-woman stepped back, bowed her head politely to the girl, and said, "Best of luck to you, little immortal." Then she turned around and walked away._

_The girl watched her go, the wheels turning in her head. She considered the witch-woman's words, measured them against her current state of affairs, and found the resulting conclusion to be…interesting. Oh yes, very interesting indeed. _

_Then she turned her face toward Kamakura. It wasn't far from here, and the trees would clear soon enough, allowing her to fly. From there, it would take her about ten minutes to get there; less if she hurried._

_With that in mind, the girl started moving. It began slow, nothing more than a determined walk, but then she picked up speed. Soon she was running as quickly as she could, but before she could take to the sky, her foot caught on a stone. Her ankle twisted under her, and…_

She fell. Fortunately, this time she had her wits about her, and was able to seize the lower frame of the door she had just stepped through, arresting her fall.

Breathing out a sigh of annoyance, Mokou shook her head and said, "Again with the falling. You know, I think gravity hates me." Then, once she was sure that the door wasn't about to disappear on her, she took a look at her new surroundings.

She was hanging by one hand from the burnt door, nearly a full kilometer in the air. That didn't bother her; she had never been afraid of heights, and she was confident in her strength to keep her suspended. However, what she saw below her was very disturbing.

It was the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. She had seen it from above so many times that there was no mistaking it, even with most of the actual bamboo gone. However, some idiot had decided to take issue with the "Bamboo Forest" part and remove almost everything related to the descriptor. And in their place, that same idiot had stuck a great big ugly city, full of way too many people. And given whose subconscious she had reportedly just entered, it didn't take much thought to figure out who that idiot was.

Mokou was not a fan of crowds. She could deal with them if necessary, but she had lived by herself for so long that they made her very uncomfortable. Besides, the last crowd she had been in had beaten her nearly to death and set her on fire. It was not an experience she cared to repeat, and given that the Kamakura riot had originated from her own head, she had no desire to find out what a swarm of imaginary people from Kaguya's brain would do to her.

But it wasn't as if she had much of a choice. Cursing her horrid luck, Mokou extended a leg straight out and gingerly tested her power of flight. To her satisfaction, the leg immediately became weightless. Okay, so that still worked. Then she held up her free hand and concentrated on the index finger. A tiny flame ignited at its tip.

Well, at least her powers hadn't been shut off, at least not yet. If worst came to worst, she could always just burn the city down.

_Right, _she thought as bitter memories sprung up. _Well, at least I've got practice in that field._

Then she let go.

Fortunately, her flight was not snatched away from her, and she landed in the streets without a problem. This earned her a few odd looks from the passersby, but at least nobody turned aggressive.

_Guess it's like the Youkai Market and they don't favor people randomly flying around here, _Mokou thought as she started walking. As she did, she noticed that she was attracting a lot of sidelong looks and whispers. She glanced at the clothes everyone was wearing and compared them to her own. _Maybe it's the outfit. I do kinda stand out._

Shrugging off that line of thought, Mokou moved away from the crowd toward an open plaza. Once she was free from the press of bodies, she felt a little bit better, but was still a little on edge. She did _not _like this place at all. It made her feel like a trapped animal.

Well, the sooner she left, the better. Looking around, Mokou realized that she didn't have the first idea where she should start looking. Trying to spot Kaguya in this rabble was going to be next to impossible, even if there was now two of her.

_Well, nothing for it, _Mokou thought reluctantly. Scanning the faces of those nearby, she finally settled on an elderly, round-bellied male rabbit youkai sitting on a bench who looked friendly enough to help her. Marching up to him, she called out, "Uh, excuse me! Yo!"

The old rabbit jerked up, clearly startled at being addressed. Clearing his throat, he said, "Ah, y-yes? How, ah, how can I help you?"

Well, from the look of things, the dream people here had the same developed personalities that Keine did. Good, that made things easier. Deciding to play along, Mokou said, "Yeah, look: I'm kinda new here, and need a little help. If I asked about the name 'Kaguya Houraisan,' would that mean anything to you?"

The old rabbit gave her a long, slow stare, and Mokou tensed up. But instead of attacking, he cleared his throat and said, "Ah, you mean the, ah, Prime Minister?"

It was all Mokou could do not to groan out loud. So, that settled things. This was Kaguya's personal paradise, the way she wanted Gensokyo to be. And from the look of things, she had set herself up as its principle authority. Well, wasn't that just wonderful. Mokou could _not _wait to leave. "Yup, that's her," she said. "And by any chance did you see a pair of twin girls that look exactly like her, wearing green-and-black uniforms?"

"No, I, ah, can't say that I have," the old rabbit said, shaking his head.

Well, it had been worth a shot. "Well, thanks anyway." Mokou was about to turn to leave, but then the old rabbit's eyes narrowed, focusing on her in a way she did not like. "Wait, ah, wait a minute," he said. "Do I, ah, know you?"

The back of Mokou's neck prickled. Oh, this could not be good. "Pretty sure you don't, so bye!" Mokou said. She started walking away as quickly as she could without looking suspicious.

Apparently it didn't work, as the old rabbit suddenly stiffened with a gasp. "Sun, moon, and stars," he said, pointing a shaky finger at her. "You're her!"

…

Back home, in the real world, Eirin Yagokoro's private office within the Hourai Clinic was small but elegant, tastefully decorated with her favorite mementos that had been collected over her long life and evidences of her many great accomplishments. While the Lunarian doctor had been content with that alone, Kaguya had always been of the opinion that Eirin Yagokoro, the single most brilliant scientific mind and accomplished physician of all time, responsible for creating wonders so great that they put magic to shame and founding one of the greatest (well, in regards to their technological and artistic accomplishments. Kaguya wasn't overly fond of their societal culture) civilizations in recorded history, deserved something more. As such, neither Head nor Body were at all surprised to see that the private office of _this _Eirin Yagokoro could quite possibly have held the entirety of the Hourai Clinic and still had room left over for a bathroom.

Located on the topmost floor of the hospital, it stretched all the way from one end of the building to the other. The ceiling and three of the four walls were all windows, giving the place a wide-open feel. The two opposite ends were raised up above the center, accessed by velvet carpeted stairs, with Eirin's gigantic crescent moon desk sitting like a throne at one side and _very _comfortable recreational center, with soft couches, a television the size of an automobile's windshield, and even a tiny kitchen, occupying the other.

The space below had been turned into Eirin's personal museum. A number of priceless artifacts sat beneath glass, including a gem-studded asteroid, the Lunarians' royal crown and scepter (the inclusion of which was particularly satisfying), the Hourai Elixir itself, some kind of gelatinous blob thing, and, to the twins' discomfort, a velmick head. The wall to either side of the elevator had been turned into an aquarium, in which was contained a miniature coral reef and numerous aquatic animals from several worlds. Various pieces of artwork and exotic potted plants were arranged throughout the room.

It was _very _impressive, and Head and Body took the appropriate time to gape wide-mouthed upon exiting the elevator. "You know," said Prime Minister Kaguya Houraisan as she moved over to one of the couches. "I think they like it here."

"I'm getting the same feeling," Eirin said, walking down into the lower area. She turned around and spread her arms. "Well, ladies. Judging by the fact that the muscles of your lower jaw seem to have ceased functioning and your eyes are making a valiant attempt to emancipate themselves from their sockets, would I be correct in assuming that my decorative sense meets your approval?"

Head made a point of blinking and pushed her lower jaw back up. "Uh, yes. Yes it does." She slowly descended the steps to join Eirin, her twin following close behind. "Sun, moon, and stars, you really went all out here. How much did this cost, anyway?"

"Enough to make it worth it."

"Nice." Body leaned over to examine a display of religious texts. Judging by their age and the fact that a great many of them were scrolls made from such materials as papyrus, animal hide, and something that she was fairly certain was human leather, they were probably all first additions.

Still, as Head gloated over her father's royal ornaments (and oh, if she only possessed them in real life. The satisfaction would be so sweet), she still felt like something was out of place. Yes, something was missing, something that the real Eirin would never lack, no matter how many or how few resources she had. "Hey, where's the lab?" she asked.

Eirin, who was in the process of ascending the steps leading to the recreation area, paused. "Lab?" she said, looking over her shoulder, her right eyebrow rising in askance.

"Yeah. Laboratory. Workshop. Room of doom. Whatever. I mean, don't get me wrong, this place is great and all, but it's not exactly suited for making your miracles."

"Oh, that's what you mean." Eirin shrugged and pointed toward a door next to the stairs on the lower area. "My workshop's through there. This place is intended to impress my friends and intimidate my enemies."

Head laughed. "Good thing we're impressed then. Though I really got to ask what kind of enemies you have around-"

"Hey I think you got a person in here," Body interrupted. She was currently standing in front of the aquarium, her face so close to the glass that her nose was almost making contact.

"Say what?" Head jogged over to her twin's side. "You mean like a drowned corpse?" She eagerly searched the maze of coral, trying to find a trace of the alleged dead body. "Nifty!"

"Corpse?" Eirin looked at them in bewilderment. "What?"

"Eirin, why is there a corpse in your fishtank?" Kaguya said from the far end of the room. "They not eating their fish food or something?"

"No, I mean I'm pretty sure I saw someone swimming in there," Body said, pointing. Head squinted her eyes. Body was right: there was something vaguely humanoid swimming around in there.

"Oh, her," Kaguya said dismissively. She got up and headed toward the kitchen, muttering, "Got me all excited for nothing."

"Wait, you mean you're supposed to have a person in here?" Body said. "Are they…okay with this?"

"Oh, don't worry," Eirin said, walking over to them. "It's just the mermaid."

Both the twins ceased trying to make out the hazy shape immediately. They glanced at each other and, as one, turned to look at her. "You have a pet mermaid," Body said, no question in her tone but still requesting clarification.

"Mmmm-hmmm." Eirin joined them by the glass. "Well, she'd probably take exception to being called a pet, but yes."

"Really," Head said. "You've got a stinking mermaid. In your aquarium."

"Once again, yes I have a mermaid, no she would not appreciate the insulting adjective."

Kaguya opened the refrigerator and removed a bottle Lunarian wine. "Try tapping the glass with your fingers," she called over to them. "That usually gets her attention."

Head and Body again looked at each other. Then they shrugged, and Body tapped the glass with her index finger.

The response was immediate. The hazy formed started swimming toward them, letting the Kaguya twins get a clear look. As it turned out, yes: it was in fact a mermaid. Her lower body was a large fish-like tail with bright scales in maroon, teal, and black. Her upper body was that of a young girl, around twelve to fourteen years of age, with short blue hair and large, inquisitive eyes of the same color. She wore a long-sleeved white shirt that featured a large, blue musical note over a pair of crossed cutlasses on her chest like a coat-of-arms.

"Holy hell," Head said, transfixed. "She's got a real mermaid."

"Damn, she's cute," Body said. She favored the mermaid with a friendly smile. "Hi," she cooed, waving. "Hi there."

The mermaid was now fully before them. She looked from one twin to the other, her head cocked quizzically.

"You're right, she's a real cutie," Head said as she also waved. "Hello, little one."

And then the mermaid did something that no one, not even Eirin had been expecting: she pulled down one eyelid, stuck out her tongue, and blew a raspberry, the sound still audible even through the glass. Then she flipped around and swam away.

As the twins gawked at the surprising display of rudeness, Eirin turned beet-red. "I…I am _so _sorry," she said, wringing her hands. "She's normally much better behaved! I don't know what's gotten into-"

"Oh my _gods!" _Body said, laughing in delight. "You've got a sassy little tomboy mermaid!"

"That's _adorable!" _Head agreed. She turned to her twin and said, "Can we keep her?"

"Why yes, you can."

The answer came not from Eirin, but Kaguya. The twins turned to see the fictional prime minister of the fictional urbanized Bamboo Forest of the Lost approaching them. She carried four crystal glasses of golden Lunarian wine, skillfully holding two glasses between the fingers of each hand.

"Excuse me?" Body said, her expression turning serious. "Are you joking? Because unless someone figures out a way to pull things out of dreams and make them real, I really don't see that happening."

"Oh, come on. You literally know me better than anybody alive. Would I joke about something like this?"

"Yes," said Head and Body at the exact same time and in the exact same tone.

"Well, they're not wrong," Eirin said.

"Okay, maybe," Kaguya conceded. "But I'm not joking about this. Besides, in light of everything else Eirin here has accomplished, does that sound so far-fetched?" Smiling, Kaguya presented them a glass each. "Though that wasn't exactly what I was talking about."

Head lifted the glass to her nose and cautiously sniffed its contents. Her mouth started watering, but she didn't drink, not yet at least. "You've lost me then."

"Unless you mean being able to visit her in my dreams," Body said. Like her twin, she held her glass without drinking. She glanced at her twin and amended, "Our dreams. Sorry."

"That's closer, but you haven't quite hit the mark," Eirin said. Unlike her guests, she had no problem in sipping from her glass. She walked over to Kaguya, and the two of them headed toward the recreational area. The twins stared after them, though it should be noted that while they had no problem focusing their gaze on the derriere of their sharp-dressed doppelganger, they were not even tempted to try ogling even an imaginary embodiment of their friend and mentor. Whether or not that spoke of the respect Kaguya Houraisan had for Eirin Yagokoro or her own unbelievable narcissism was up for debate, though a case could be made for both qualities being equally responsible.

Eirin sat down in a plush black leather chair. Kaguya was about to claim one of the sofas, but then she noticed that their guests were still standing next to the aquarium. "Come, come," she said, beckoning with a crooked finger. "This conversation will go nowhere if we have to keep shouting over to you."

The twins again exchanged a look and a simultaneous shrug. Then they joined their hosts and sat down on a couch across from Kaguya.

"All right, let's cut straight to the point," Eirin said once everyone was seated. She leaned forward, holding her glass with both hands near her knees. "Now that you've had a chance to look around, what do you think of our city?"

"The city?" Head shrugged. "It's…well…"

Body said, "It's very….ah…"

Kaguya sighed. "All right, forget your current predicament for just a moment. Forget your goals, forget your wayward companions, forget your problems, and just tell us honestly." She gestured out toward the huge windows that made up the nearby wall and the city beyond. "Look out at that, and tell us what you think."

"And do note that we're not fishing for compliments here," Eirin murmured as she lightly sipped her wine. "We are going somewhere with this."

Mystified, the twins took a long look out at the city, at its graceful architecture, at its lovely parks and gardens, at its clear skies, and at its happy populace. "Well, okay," Body said. "Credit where credit is due: you modernized Gensokyo and did it in a way that _doesn't _look like Saruman's playground. It's…pretty awesome, actually."

Head finally took a sip of her wine and, despite her misgivings, her eyes fluttered with ecstasy. Lunarian wine was hard to come by, and this vintage was exceptionally fine. But of course, it would be. "Right," she said, lowering her glass. "Of course, this would _never happen _in real life, but hey, as an _ideal, _it rocks."

"A sad but unfortunate truth," Kaguya said. She looked out the window and sighed. "So here's our next question: how would you two feel about staying here?"

Head blanched at the question, and Body, who had the misfortune of having just tried the wine, ended coughing it right up and spewing it out her nose.

…

Mokou was not stupid. Perhaps she was no academic, and it was true that she preferred hot action to armchair contemplation, but she was still very smart in her own way, and a quick thinker besides. Her favorite hobby practically demanded it, after all.

As such, as soon as the old rabbit declared that he recognized her, and not in a good way, her mind immediately lined up several important facts and came to a disheartening conclusion.

1. This world was of Kaguya's making, in every sense of the phrase. As such, it more than likely represented the world as Kaguya's ideal.

2. Mokou was Kaguya's mortal enemy, with whom she shared a great deal of mutual loathing.

3. In Kaguya's perfect world, Mokou would either:

A. Not exist.

B. Exist, but either as:

a. A luckless nobody, doomed to live out a life of misery and obscurity, or…

b. A notorious criminal, terrorist, outlaw, or something equally despicable, hated by the public at large.

4. Mokou existed in this world.

5. The old rabbit recognized her.

6. Shit.

Before the old rabbit could scream for help, Mokou took off running. She shoved her way past a couple of well-dressed Human women and a fairy tending a flower stand and bolted into the first doorway she saw. Perhaps if she found a good enough hiding place, she could still find the twins without having to turn this city into ashes. She was good at stealth, especially when Kaguya was involved, so was confident in her abilities to avoid detection until she found what she was looking for. And with any luck, she would be able to avoid burning the city down in the meantime.

Then Mokou glanced over her shoulder at the stupid city and scowled. _Ah hell, _she thought. _This is Kaguya Land. Maybe I'll burn it down anyway._

…

"Gah!" Body sputtered as she wiped her face. She could still feel the alcohol burning in her nasal passages. "Damn it, you did that on purpose!"

"Maybe a little," Kaguya admitted as she offered her a handkerchief.

"Was it worth it?" Head asked.

"Absolutely."

"Well, great," Body said as she blew her nose. "Now that we've established that you're a complete _prick-"_

"Body, she's us," Head said. "You just called yourself a prick." Then she knocked back the rest of her wine, wiped her mouth, and muttered, "I can't believe I needed to point that out."

"Hey, you know what? Fuck you. _You're _me. _She's _just a-" Body paused her rant long enough to look Kaguya over, "-incredibly well dressed figment on my imagination. Our. Our imagination."

"One that is based on your appearance and personality," Kaguya pointed out, one finger tapping lightly against her cheek and a satisfied smirk on her face. "Oh, and thank you. My tailor is a miracle worker."

"Well, fuck you too," Body snapped. "And you're right, she is, but still, fuck you." She wearily closed her eyes and knocked back the rest of her wine, muttering, "Just because I'm a prick doesn't mean I like dealing with me."

Head raised her hand. "Is anyone else getting a headache from all this?"

"Okay, stop," Eirin said firmly. She stood up and put herself between Kaguya and the twins. "Kaguya, dear? Please sit down and stop antagonizing our guests."

"Guests," Body grumbled. "We're each other and you're kind of us and this is taking place inside our mind and we're guests in our own-" She hunched over with a groan. "Damn it, now I've got a headache."

"That's probably just the wine," Kaguya suggested as she reclaimed her seat. "It's meant to be sipped, not gulped down. Which, I should point out, you should already know."

This time, she was ignored. "All metaphysical issues aside," Eirin said. "Her offer wasn't a joke. Why not stay here? You've already had a taste of Houraisan's wonders, and I assure you that-"

"Houraisan?" Body interrupted.

"Name of the city," Kaguya told her.

"Wow. That's…egotistical."

"Barely more than an hour ago, you had sex with yourself," Kaguya pointed out. "Plus, there's the Hourai Elixir and Hourai Clinic." She stretched out fully across the cushions and crossed her arms behind her head to make a pillow. "I don't think you're in any position to throw stones."

"Hey, I said it was egotistical, not bad." Body turned her attention back to Eirin. "Okay, okay, getting back to the main point, I'm sure you're about to play up the travel agent and talk up Houraisan and how perfectly wonderful it is, with its scenic parks, historical library, and yadda yadda yadda."

Head continued for her. "Then you're going to tell us that we'll be your honored guests, during which we'll be given our own luxury suite…No, private villa! Where we'll be waited on hand and foot by an army of scantily clad maids and provided every luxury imaginable-"

"-like a platinum-plated hot tub filled with thousand-year-old Lunarian wine," Body added.

"Or a dinosaur hunting safari," Head threw in.

"A three story combo ball pit and laser tag arena!"

"Fine china made from Father's bones!"

"Our own all-female naked wrestling league with plenty of-" Body stopped in mid-sentence. She blinked, and then turned to her twin. "Ew, really?"

Kaguya raised her head. "You know, I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or listing conditions."

Head shrugged. "Hey, sorry, we just figured it was our turn to talk ridiculous."

For her part, Eirin did not seem at all perturbed by the twins' attitude. "If you'd like to provide us with a full list, I can have my secretary go over it and see that your accommodations are ready by Saturday."

That just made the twins laugh. "Okay, ha ha, that was witty," Head said. "But seriously, while this…Houraisan is all kinds of nifty looking, while the mermaid was cute, and hey, having Father's royal doodads under glass over there is a real nice touch, do I really have to point out that _none of this is real? _I mean, come on! No offense, but both of you are _figments of our imagination! _We are _literally _talking to ourselves right now!"

Kaguya's smirk only grew sharper. "And you call yourself a roleplayer," she said.

Both Head and Body glowered at her. "Okay, now _that _was a low blow," Body said, her voice lowered to a near-growl.

"Kaguya, please, not now," Eirin said to the prime minister. To the twins, she said, "I understand your concerns-"

"Duh."

"-but while it is true that Houraisan does not, in the strictest sense, exist, staying here is infinitely better than the alternatives."

That just made the twins adopt identical frowns. "Okay, explain," Body said.

Sighing, Eirin squatted down in front of them. She took their hands in her own and said, "Kaguya, I know that…this is going to be hard to accept, in light of everything you've gone through, but I'm afraid that, with the way things are going, you two are going to be stuck here for a very long time."

…

The door led to a small home-and-garden store, and fortunately the shopowner was in deep conversation with a couple of Kappa customers at the far end. Before any of them could spot her, Mokou dove over the counter and wedged herself out of sight among a collection of plaster fairies.

"Holding ons the second," she one of the Kappa exclaim. "Does yous be watching dat?"

"Pardon?" said the shop-owner. Mokou sympathized. Even here, within the depths of Kaguya's subconscious mind, Kappa were still unintelligible.

"Thinks I be saw person run in."

Mokou held her breath, mentally readying herself to unleash an inferno.

Tense moments ticked by, each one longer than the rest, and then the Kappa said, "Eh, just'er me magistration."

"Imagination," corrected the shopkeeper.

"Whatevs. So, 'bout dat fertilizers…"

Mokou let out the breath she had been holding, though she didn't drop her guard. One wrong move, and she was going to be overrun by another angry mob. That, or shot full of holes by the local army or whatever passed for law enforcement around here. She could deal with either, but doing so would waste time, and the clock was ticking.

Peeking her head above the lawn ornaments, Mokou scanned her surroundings. There had to be a back door around here somewhere. From there, she could slip into an alleyway and approach her objective in a more cautious manner.

Something niggled at her though. These people were different, in the same way Keine had been different. They had acted like real people with actual personalities, and unlike Keine they didn't seem to be aware of their own fictional nature. Mokou was almost certain that they were still trapped in the dream world created by this Rin Satsuki person, but the amount of detail that had gone into this section of it was somewhat troubling.

Then again, the people of Kamakura had acted normal as well, right up until when they had beaten her half to death and burned her the rest of the way. If these Kaguya-loving sycophants tried the same thing, they were in for a holocaust.

Then her ears pricked up. There was some sort of commotion taking place outside. She could hear several raised voices, all of them talking excitedly.

One in particular stood out. It was that old rabbit, the one who had recognized her. "I'm telling you, it was her!" he declared. "Saw her with mine own eyes! She was asking about the Prime Minister!"

"Are you sure it was her?" someone asked.

"Plain as day! There's no mistaking that face."

"Oh wow. Did you see where she went?"

Mokou sighed. Well, it served her right for not thinking to conceal herself upon arrival. After the Kamakura incident, one would think that she would have learned by now. Well, fine. This was all going to end with a holocaust sooner or later. Best to strike now, while she still had the advantage. Her fingers curled into fists, and the air around them rippled with heat.

And then one of the idiots outside decided that this nightmare was making too much sense. "Do you think she'll give me an autograph?" he said eagerly.

Mokou paused. Her mind tried to process what she had just heard, found itself unable, and went with its default reaction to such situation: open and active rejection.

"Oh, what the bloody hell!" Mokou shouted as she leapt to her feet, startling the shopkeeper and his customers nearly out of their wits.

…

The twins' reaction to Eirin's statement was less than positive.

"The hell we are," Body said, wrenching her hand away and standing up. "Look, Memory of Eirin, we appreciate all the effort to make us feel welcome, we really do. It beats the velmick by a long shot. But no. Just…no."

Eirin looked pained. "Kaguya…"

"I'm with her," Head said, tilting her head to her twin. "Well, me. I mean, we're of one mind in this. Split in two, who have the same…" She closed her eyes for a moment, muttered under breath, and tried again. "What I mean to say is that we've been stuck here for way too long. Sorry, but as sweet as Houraisan might be, and while I have no doubt you really could give us a three story combo ball pit and laser tag arena, we really don't fancy staying plugged into…" Her brow furrowed. "Oh, damn it." She snapped her fingers several times, trying to jog her memory. "What's the name, what's the name? Hey Body, you remember that weekend we had that Outside World science fiction movie marathon?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, you remember that weird one, where they're all plugged into that big machine that sends them into a dream world kind of like this one, and we kept laughing about how everyone treated flying like it was a big deal, and how overly complicated the hand-to-hand was? What it called again?"

Body shrugged. "The hell if I remember. They all kind of blurred together after a while."

"_The Matrix," _Kaguya answered. Houraisan's Prime Minister was still reclining across the opposite couch.

Head turned to scowl at her. "Okay, how do you remember that and we don't?"

"That's the great thing about being me," Kaguya said with a winning smile. "Instant access to your memory. You want to see a replay of that one Christmas you met those Human sisters and-"

"_NO!"_

"Liar."

"Am not! You know, contrary to popular belief, I do not-"

Body coughed into her fist. "Uh, actually I wouldn't mind reliving that one."

Head slapped a palm across her face. "Gods_damn_ it, Body, that isn't helping!"

"All right!" Eirin snapped. The Lunarian doctor stood to her full height, towering over Head. "This foolishness ends now. This is a very important decision that is being made, and I will not have it be sidetracked by pointless bickering."

"Yes ma'am," Head said meekly. She sat back down and put her hands on her knees.

Body, however, was not to be deterred. "You know, that reminds me. You say you're going to be all accommodating and everything, give us anything we want and all that. But we've tasted of your hospitality already, both before and after we got divided. And I really got to say: not impressed."

"Hey, yeah," Head said, her countenance rising. "If you want to be so helpful, maybe you shouldn't have sent one of _those _after us!" She swung her around out, pointing at the preserved velmick head. "Or hey, what about throwing my father back into my face? Or Mokou's father, for that matter. Or those nutso sailors? And the Zerg…" She mused over that for a moment before conceding, "Okay, so the Zerg were pretty neat."

"Not really," Body said. "Seeing how they were trying to eat us."

"True."

"Hey now, don't go pinning that on us," Kaguya said, her nose wrinkling with distaste. She swung her legs around and sat up. "That was your _subconscious, _not us."

Head laughed. "Oh? And then who are you supposed to be? Our common sense?"

"I'd think we'd be shorter, if that were the case," Eirin said icily. The Kaguya twins cringed at that. While they were still mindful that this wasn't the real Eirin, she was still a good enough imitation for her displeasure to have the same effect. "But no, we are neither. We are, in fact, your imagination."

The twins fell silent at that. If so, that did explain a great deal, while at the same time it just muddled things further. "So, wait," Body said. "All that crap we've been through was thanks to our subconscious…"

"Yup," Kaguya nodded.

"But now we're dealing with our imagination," Head said. "Which would be you guys."

"Essentially, yes," Eirin said. She walked back to sit down next to Kaguya. "Nothing against your subconscious, I assure you. We collaborate together on a great many projects. But as skilled as it might be at identifying and attacking weak points, it really suffers when it comes to formulating strategies."

"Enter us," Kaguya said. She stood up and walked around the couch, heading toward the kitchen. "I'm going to get more wine; anyone else want anything? No? All right then."

While she went for refreshments, Head ventured, "So, what does that make us then? Kaguya Houraisan's conscious mind?"

"That's a bit oversimplified, I think," Eirin murmured. She crossed her legs and clasped her hands over her knee. "You are still you, the full package if you like. But you have been turned inside out, as it were. Your subconscious, and now imagination, exist on the outside now, fulfilling our original functions while performing our new duties."

"You mean nightmare land," Body said flatly. "Making a cage for Rin Satsuki to keep us in. Thanks for that, by the way."

Eirin held up a palm. "Again, it is hard to explain things. And I must remind you that we are very recent additions to the game, brought here to assist your subconscious in a very delicate task."

"Yeah. Cage." Body turned to her twin. "You hear that, Head? Our own minds are conspiring against us."

"So I've noticed," Head drawled. "You know, this anthropomorphism bullshit really needs to stop. There are only so many ways to talk to myself before it becomes a problem."

"A little late for that, my dears," Kaguya said, returning with a full bottle. She refilled her cup, brought it to her nostrils, and sniffed it appreciatively. "Ah, magnificent. You sure neither of you want any?"

She was ignored. "It's not _quite_ like that," Eirin said. "Your prison was formed from your subconscious, yes, and it was joined with Mokou's, as distasteful as the thought may be. And it's true, your time here has not been…exactly pleasant." She spread her hands and shrugged. "But what do you expect? A subconscious is a powerful entity, it is true, but it is also limited. It simply does what it does, bringing your deepest and darkest fears and desires to the fore."

"Unfortunately, while it was playing its little games, our friend hit something of a snag," Kaguya said. She lifted her glass to the twins and smiled. "I'm sure you can figure out whom I'm speaking of."

"Rumia," Body answered. Head said nothing; she merely glowered.

"Mmmm-hmmm." Kaguya took a sip and sighed with pleasure. "Exactly."

"It should come as no surprise to you that Rumia is far from what she claims to be," Eirin said. "We do not know exactly what she is, but she is dangerous, and she is treacherous. You suspected it from the moment you met her."

"Yeah, we know," Body said. "Mokou's brain already sent us the message. Turns out she's some kid she used to know that was supposed to have died, only now she's back and kind of…ah…"

"Evil?" Eirin suggested. "It's not a dirty word, you can say it."

"Whether or not _Mokou's _mind had the right of it isn't the issue here," Kaguya said. Her tone soured at the mention of her rival's name, making it sound like a profanity. "We don't care who she was. All that matters is what she is."

"And what's that, exactly?" Body said, tilting her head to one side.

Kaguya shrugged. "You don't know. How could we?"

"She is frightfully powerful though," Eirin put in. She turned her head to gaze meaningfully at the velmick head. "Mokou already told you how she disposed of the velmick that was sent after her."

"Plus, you do remember that storm that destroyed the Zerg swarm, don't you?" Kaguya added. "Now, we don't exactly have a certified confession for that little incident, but as those tornadoes did not come from our end, and neither you nor Mokou are capable of anything like that, I'd say we'd be fairly safe in laying the blame at her feet."

That was troubling. Head and Body had forgotten completely about that, but now that Kaguya had reminded them, they had to admit that, given how easily the Zerg had been dispatched, they were less eager to confront Rumia than they had been before. It was one thing to learn that the untrustworthy member of the party really was planning on betrayal. It was quite another to learn that said untrustworthy member of the party was also capable of calling down the sky to kill people.

"So, what exactly are you suggesting then?" Body said slowly. "That we hide here, and hope she doesn't find us?"

"If it's being thought a coward that you're worried about, you need not be," Kaguya responded. "Cowardice is just what the foolish like to call pragmatism. Besides, who will know?"

Body sighed. "I stopped caring what people think of me a long time ago. I just want to go home."

"But here, you could-"

"_Here _is not home," Head cut in. "It's nice, sure. I wouldn't mind having a dream about it every now and then. But just because it's a nice place to visit doesn't mean we want to live here."

"After all, we were almost done with _Half Blood Prince," _Body pointed out. "Even if you managed to recreate all the books we've read, how in the hell would you know what happens in _Deathly Hollows?"_

"Right! And hey, _Kingdom Hearts III _still hasn't come out! There's no way in hell I would miss that!"

"Damn straight." Body held up her fist, and Head bumped it with her own.

Eirin looked dubious. "So, you are willing to give up paradise just for the sake of your Outside World entertainment?"

"No," Body said. "We're willing to give up being stuck in a cage so we can go home."

"Fantasy worlds are nice and all, but the nice thing about them is that they let you leave when you want to," Head said in agreement.

Kaguya stared at them in disbelief. "Are you being…Look, you're an _immortal princess _from the _Moon _who lives in a _magical dimension _filled with _fairies, youkai, and forgotten gods!"_

"So?" Head said.

"So?" Kaguya looked like she was about to start pulling out her own hair. "Do you have _any idea _what that sounds like to the people that created all those fantasy worlds you love so much?"

Body snorted. "Yeah, but that's different. Gensokyo's real."

Kaguya looked like she was going to say something further, but she paused in mid-thought, her mouth still hanging open, and then slouched back, folded her arms, and pouted.

"Be that as it may," Eirin said, casting the briefest of dirty looks Kaguya's way, "Kaguya did speak of pragmatism. And while you may be loath to accept it, accepting our offer would be the most pragmatic course of action. Oftentimes, what we want and what we must settle for do not resemble each other." She gave the twins a knowing look. "And it is not unheard of for the latter to turn out to be even better than the former, if you catch my meaning."

Head sighed. "Hardly the same thing. I tried for the crown because I thought it the only way to escape being married off to one of Father's friends. I got that anyway, and more besides."

"And now, we want to go home," Body said. "Tell me: how exactly will contenting ourselves with a hyper-realistic daydream accomplish that?"

"It won't, but neither will letting yourself getting backstabbed by someone who _snuffed out the velmick _and _wiped out the Zerg!" _Kaguya snapped. "Face it: she was the only person who had half an idea on how to take the fight to Satsuki, but unfortunately she's also quite possibly an even worse monster than that little twit ever was!"

Eirin placed a hand on the angry Prime Minister's shoulder. "Kaguya, calm down. That isn't helping." Kaguya smoldered but she acquiesced.

"At any rate, she does have a point," Eirin said to the twins. "Neither you nor Mokou can stand against Rumia, and we can conjure nothing that will so much as slow her down. Any sort of confrontation with her would be nothing short of suicide."

"Right," Head said, folding her arms. "Because that would be unprecedented."

"Different sort of suicide. How much good will your immortality do when your very mind has been burnt from the inside out? Do either of you know?" Eirin looked from one identical face to the other. When neither responded, she added, "Are you in such a hurry to find out? Hmmm?"

Body slumped forward with a sigh, her arms resting loosely on her knees, and her face downcast. "So, what exactly are you suggesting then? Because if she is really so unstoppable, hiding us here is going to do nothing but delay the inevitable. Rumia needs Mokou and me to get to Satsuki, remember?"

"Of course," Eirin responded. She leaned forward as well, though in her case it was with the intention of focusing everyone's attention on her rather than conveying surrender. "Give Rumia what she wants. Find that thrice-damned Mokou, and the two…_three _of you open the way for her. Then you close the door behind her and lock it tight. From thereon out she will be Rin Satsuki's problem. After all, we have it on good authority that she at least is capable of giving her a fight." Eirin's lips twisted into a smile of such cruelty that even the Kaguya twins, who knew her to be capable of terrible things, found it surprising. "So let them fight. Let Satsuki burn the lying traitor's soul to a cinder. Let Rumia boil the little bitch's brain like soup. And when they're done, I'm sure the winner will be in no state to stand again us."

…

In hindsight, jumping up and revealing herself was probably not the best idea, but in Mokou's defense, the surprise had temporarily relieved her of her common sense, though that was small consolation when within moments she suddenly found herself by a gaggle of adoring fans, all of them clamoring for her attention.

"It's Mokou!" a little crow Tengu girl cried as she jumped up and down in glee. "I _knew _I saw her fall out of the sky!"

"Miss Fujiwara, can I just say what an honor it is to have you in my shop?" said the shopkeeper as he energetically shook her hand. "If there's anything you want, anything at all, I'll be more than happy to mark it half…no, seventy-five percent off!"

"We love you Mokou!" shouted a trio of teenaged Human girls, all in perfect unison.

Through it all, Mokou could only stand still and gawk as the tiny shop filled up. Being attacked she could handle, no problem. Being cursed and spat upon was also familiar to her. But this sort of attention was so alien to her that it left her completely stupefied.

It wasn't until a red-haired fairy managed to worm her way to the front and shoved a magazine into Mokou's hands, all the while begging for it to be signed, that Mokou started to get a clue.

On the magazine's cover was a picture of herself, but her appearance was just as strange as anything else in this city. She wore red pants and a white shirt, certainly, but her pants looked uncomfortably tight and were made of some shiny, plastic-like material, while her shirt had no sleeves, was short enough to expose her midriff, and had some sort of flaming Phoenix logo across the breast. As for Mokou herself, all of her charms were gone, and she was posing with one hand sticking two fingers in a V-shape across her face while the other was clutching a microphone.

Mokou stared numbly at the disturbing caricature of herself, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. But somewhere in the pit of her stomach, cold terror was starting to brew.

…

After several seconds of contemplation, Head blinked, scratched her head, and said, "Huh. You know…that's not a bad idea…"

"I don't know," Body said. She shifted in discomfort. "It sounds like something that can go really wrong."

"Oh, it's not without its risks," Eirin said, nodding at her. "But given that we are caught between two beings of immense power and terrible disposition, we must take risks. Victory goes to the bold, after all."

"So does death, more often than not," Body pointed out.

Eirin smiled in her knowing way. "Except you are too valuable to kill, for either of them. Satsuki needs your immortality, and I'll bet good money that Rumia means to take her place, so she does as well."

Head blinked. She hadn't thought of that. Except, apparently she did. Perhaps it was something she had subconsciously realized, and thus passed along to her imagination without ever really becoming consciously aware of…

Her headache returned, and she massaged her brow with a groan. When this was over, she was going to have to go through some major therapy to sort out the mess her mind had become. Maybe even have Yukari Yakumo put things back together.

"But that still leaves us with another problem," Body pointed out. "Mokou. You said need her to open the way, right? Except she's still kind of lost."

"She'll find her way here," Kaguya said smugly. "And the moment she sets foot in this city, we'll know. There is not a man, woman, child, or fairy that does not know her face on sight."

Head frowned. "Why, did you turn her into some kind of super-criminal?"

"Even better." Kaguya's eyes gleamed with malicious glee. "We made her a celebrity."

The Kaguya twins balked. "A c-c-celebrity?" Body stammered. "What?"

"But that-" Then Head's eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute. What _kind _of celebrity?"

"An idol singer."

A stunned silence fell upon the cavernous room. The twins sat and stared, their eyes so wide that they appeared to have no lids at all. As for their hosts, Eirin and Kaguya simply waited, an air of smug satisfaction hanging about them.

And then, as one, all four of them broke out into raucous laughter.

…

_This, _Mokou thought as the crowd grew and grew, _is what Hell must feel like. Strange, I always pictured fire. _

If only that were the case; she could handle fire just fine. But this was another nightmare entirely. Every second more people arrived. The little shop was filled to bursting point already, and the sidewalk outside had become clogged. Mokou herself was now pressed against a wall, as hands clutched at her clothing and all sorts of items thrust her was in hopes of her signature. Worse, most of those items seemed to be her own licensed merchandise. Back home, the closest thing she had to licensed _anything _was the yakitori stand she sometimes operated to make ends meet. This was just obscene.

"Mokou, I love you! Mokou, please just-"

"Please sign my chest! I swear its permanent ink!"

"Miss Fujiwara, over here! A few words for the _Daily Cutter? _Is this surprise appearance in promotion of your latest concert tour?"

"My what?" Mokou said, but it was swallowed up in the babble.

And then she felt someone tug on her pants. "Hey, can I have one of these?" someone said as they yanked away one of her fireproofing charms.

"What?" Mokou looked down. "No! I need-"

It was too late. Now everyone within reach was going after her charms. "Thank you!" said one middle-aged rabbit woman as she clutched a torn charm to her heart, as if Mokou had given permission. "I'll treasure it forever."

"Let me have one of these!" said someone unseen as they snatched at the a charm in her hair.

"Get off!" Mokou shouted. She tried to shove them away, but it was like shoving a gale. The more she resisted, the more they grabbed, snatched, and yes, groped at her.

The worst of it was that she knew that she was strong enough to fight them off, but doing so would risk harming them. These weren't enemy soldiers, and they weren't immortals. Well, some of them anyway. They were just people. Stupid, infuriating people perhaps, but she didn't make war on-

_Mokou?_

_Yeah?_

_They're not real._

Mokou blinked. Somehow, she had completely forgotten about that.

…

"You…" Body gasped through the hysterics, "you are…Oh my gods, that is so _cruel!"_

"I know, right?" Kaguya cackled. She wiped away tears from her eyes. "Got the idea from you, actually. Remember how all those people started to worship for like five minutes in that one town of Mokou's?"

"Right! That was real nice. Right up until the part where they forgot about me completely and decided to beat Mokou to death." Body reconsidered. "No, wait, that was pretty nice too."

"Well, we figured that something we would enjoy, she would absolutely _hate! _I mean, can you see her, running into a gaggle of starstruck tweens?"

Head took several deep breaths to get herself under control before venturing, "Sun, moon, and stars, I would _pay _to see the look on her face."

Body clapped her on the shoulder. "We…If we do end up staying her for a while, we have _got _to make her put on a concert. Somehow! It has to be done!"

"Oh, yes. Gods, yes."

"And do you want to know the best part?" Eirin asked. When the twins nodded enthusiastically, she said, "She won't be able to do a thing about it! You know how she gets about collateral damage, and no hurting anyone except for you?" When the twins nodded again, she said, "If we sent an army after her, sure, she'd have no problem fighting. But a bunch of innocent people, most of them kids? After that stuff in her past, there's no way she'd be able to-"

They were interrupted by the horribly familiar sound of an explosion. The laughter died on their lips as they froze in their seats. Mute looks of confusion were on all of their faces, as glanced at one another, hoping that someone had an explanation, one that wasn't the one that had immediately sprung to each of their minds.

And then the air filled with the sound of screams and sirens.

"No," Eirin said, leaping to her feet. "No, she can't." Not even bothering with running, she flew through the room and landed behind her desk. Once there, she stared out of the transparent walls.

"Well?" Kaguya called after her.

Eirin's shoulders slumped. "Yes, she did."

There was a moment's pause, and then all three Kaguyas shot to her side to see for themselves.

It was as they had feared. An entire city blocked had exploded, and the surrounding neighborhood was being consumed by the hungry flames. People ran in panic from the holocaust, and the authorities from all over the city were scrambling to respond.

"My city," Kaguya said. The Prime Minister seemed to be at an utter loss. "Why would she…"

Head sighed. "I guess she figured that since they weren't real people, they didn't count."

"Well, she's not wrong," Eirin muttered, folding her arms. Her face was a mask of cold fury. "Though I had hoped she would rein in the homicidal impulses."

"Yeah," Head said. "You really should have known better."

The four watched the blaze spread for several moments, and then Body pointed at a flaming streak shooting through the sky. "Look. There she is."

"So she is," Head muttered. The four of them watched as Mokou burned her way across the sky, bright as a comet.

Then Body coughed. "But, uh, you can fix it, right? Or we, whatever. If this is our imagination, can't we just imagine it better?"

"Oh, certainly," Eirin said. "But I find that I am still angry." With that, she turned and stormed toward her desk. Once there, she pressed the eye of a silver owl statue that had a lamp coming out of its head, and a drawer slid open. From within she extracted a metal, tubular object.

Head frowned. "Hey, isn't that the shotgun you had the Kappa fix up for you?"

"Why, yes," Eirin said, hefting the weapon over her shoulder. "As a matter of fact, it is."

"But, seeing how everything here is all…fancier, shouldn't it be, uh, bigger?"

"Hmmm, good point." Eirin put the shotgun away and replaced it with a different gun, this one a deadly looking high-tech bazooka with a pulsing blue barrel.

"All right," Eirin said as she marched back to the group. There was the sound of gears, and the windows spread open, exposing them to the sky. "Time for us to have a little chat with out pyromaniac of a friend."

As she readied the weapon and took aim, something occurred to Body. "Wait!" she shouted. "Mokou's immune to fire and-"

It was too later. Eirin fired, sending a blue comet on an impact course with the red one.

…

Though they had a truce, Mokou now dearly found herself wanting to kill Kaguya again, just for putting her through that.

There had been children in that crowd. Fictional ones, yes, but they had looked so _real. _Mokou was still reeling from having her buried memories of the Aoki Yume Children's Home so forcibly unearthed, and being forced to do _that _just rubbed salt into her open wounds. It didn't matter that Kaguya herself hadn't caused it to happen. This was still her mind, so the cruelty fell on her head.

_Speaking of which, maybe I can just kill Head and leave Body, _Mokou thought to herself. _That would be okay, right? _

Probably not, but at this point she didn't much care. This horrific nightmare of a journey had already gone too far when it had confronted her with her murdered brother, and every second spent here only increased the torture. She was angrier than she had ever been, and wanted to burn all responsible.

Unfortunately, she was so caught up in her rueful thoughts that she didn't notice the blue missile heading her way until it hit.

…

_In case you're wondering, yes, that is Human!Mima in the flashback. She really does get around._

_Also, little bit of unimportant trivia: that pipe Mima was smoking, the kiseru, didn't really appear in Japan until somewhere around the fifteenth century, whereas that conversation took place around the tenth. I briefly considered just not adding the pipe after I found out, but I just couldn't picture her without it. _

_Mima: rocking the kiseru five hundred years before it became cool. She's the original hipster._

_Anyway, like the schedule says, the next RoSD chapter will be the last. Sort of. See, I always promised myself this story wouldn't go above ten chapters, and while that is still kind of doable, after I got down to planning the climax I realized that it was probably going to turn into another monster chapter with way too many awesome places to make cliffhangers out of. _

_So here's what I'm going to do: write the finale as one big chapter, with only one final flashback, but chop it up and release it in segments, each one coming out about a week apart. So it'll be kind of like Deep Within and The Storm in that regard. _

_Until next time, everyone!_


	10. Reality

Reality

"_Get down!"_

_Before the princess could ask what was wrong, her mentor had seized her by the waist and tackled her to the ground. Moments later, a blazing ball of flame whizzed right through where her head had been to explode in the dirt._

_The princess stared numbly at the crater. She and her mentor had been out for their early evening walk through the forest, just like always. They had been chatting about the latest gossip from the rabbit tribes, her mentor's current projects, and whatever hobby the princess had most recently taken up to keep herself entertained, just like always. Those they passed nodded and greeted them cordially, just like always. By the time they had finished their customary route, they expected to return to their hidden home and sit down to the supper that had been prepared for them, just as always._

_Except today someone had decided to disrupt tradition by lobbing a godsforsaken fireball at them. _

"_Princess!" her mentor cried. She wretched the stunned girl from the ground and bore her away over her shoulder. Behind them, more fireballs devastated the area they just occupied. Many of the nearby bamboo trees caught fire and started to burn._

"_What's going on?" the princess shouted, still bouncing on her mentor's shoulder. "Who's attacking us?" Then a horrible thought occurred to her. "Is it the Lunar-"_

_Before she could complete her question, her mentor dove over a small rock outcropping and scampered into the relative shelter it provided. "Quiet," she said, slapping a hand over the princess's mouth. _

_The princess pushed the hand out of the way. "But who-"_

_It went right back. "Shhh!" her mentor hissed. "I don't know, but I soon will."_

_The two sat in silence, listening to the sounds of destruction. Whoever it was that had attacked them, it seemed that they had either not noticed that their quarry had disappeared or simply liked setting things on fire. That ruled out the princess's original supposition, at least. For all their faults, her people were at least efficient in their assassination attempts. _

_Finally the assault came to the end, leaving nothing but the sound of burning. The two women remained still, straining the limits of their hearing. The princess found herself glad for the heat, as it gave her an excellent excuse for the sweat._

_And then an unfamiliar voice shouted, "I know you're out there, Moon Princess. Come on out! Unless you're afraid of getting burnt?"_

_The princess sighed. "Well, that rules out this being a random hit," she said. "Do you know that voice?"_

"_No," said her mentor. "But it doesn't matter. My lady, with your permission-"_

"_I don't think so," interrupted the princess. "This isn't the Lunarians, so that means it's just some Gensokyian toughie looking for a fight." She cracked her knuckles and twisted her neck, popping the vertebrae. "Well, she's found one."_

_Her mentor seized her arm in a tight grip. "Princess, don't. This person knows you. She has to be prepared for anything you can do to her."_

_The princess pulled herself away. "What's she going to do, kill me to death? Let her try." Her eyes narrowed. "And no matter how much she knows me, she's about to learn more about me than she ever expected."_

_With that, she stole out of the stony shelter and crept through the forest. The whole area had been set ablaze, with the fires continuing to spread. That just made the princess angrier. This forest was her home, and the home of the rabbit tribes that had given her shelter. Who did this idiot think she was, to cause such destruction so indiscriminately?_

_Well, someone who didn't believe in stealth, apparently. The idiot in question was in plain sight, floating above the epicenter of her attack. The princess didn't recognize her; it was some Human with shoulder-length white hair and sharp features. She appeared to be wearing a simple farmer's outfit, but it was hard to tell, given that she was completely covered with fire. What was more, she was entirely unharmed by it._

_The princess stopped and blinked. Well now. While it was true that she had seen many strange things in during her many years, this was a new one. _

_As for the burning woman, she had her back to Kaguya and was looking back and forth, no doubt in search of her prey. "Come on, princess! Stop hiding! I'm just going to find you sooner or later."_

Not if you keep facing the wrong way, _the princess thought as she considered the problem. This woman was out for blood, so danmaku wasn't going to be of much use. Perhaps she could make use of the bamboo? Maybe a sharpened spear thrown hard enough would be able to penetrate the flames…No, they radiated too far out. Which left…_

_The princess glanced down at her feet. The woman's attack had torn up the road, leaving the smooth stones in shattered pieces. She picked up a piece with especially sharp looking edges and tossed it from hand to hand, testing its weight. Then, satisfied with her new weapon, she floated up until she was a ways over the madwoman while still behind her._

_The princess was no magician. Despite the many hobbies she had picked up and discarded, she could only claim a minor proficiency in magic. The physical arts were far more fun, after all. However, she did know a thing or two. Rolling the stone in her palm, the princess imbued it a healthy helping of kinetic energy. Soon it was trembling with its own explosive potential. _

_The princess eyed her target, took aim, and drew her arm back. "Yoohoo!" she shouted._

_The madwoman whirled around, her blazing maroon eyes searching for the source of the challenge._

"_Up here, you fool!" the princess called. Then she hurled the stone._

_It could not have been timed better. The madwoman looked up and her eyes widened with delight when she saw her quarry. But then they took note of the glowing stone hurtling toward her face and her smile withered._

_The stone cut straight through the fire and blew up the madwoman's face. The fire disappeared and her body fell._

_Well, that was easy. The princess dropped to the ground next to the corpse. Her hands had gotten some ash on them. She wiped them off on her skirt._

"_Princess!" Her mentor ran out of the devastation to join her. "Are you hurt?"_

_The princess shrugged. "No. And even if I was, what of it?" She crouched down to examine the body. Now that she had the chance to examine the madwoman up close, she had to admit that she still had no idea who it was. The fact that the face was now a ruined mess didn't exactly help in that regard, but even so, nothing about the woman struck her as recognizable. The only thing of note she noticed was that her hair was a very pale lavender rather than white. Beyond that, nothing._

"_Do you recognize this idiot?" the princess asked. _

_Her mentor frowned. "At a glance? I'm afraid not. But a full autopsy might reveal something about her origins."_

"_Do it." The princess started to straighten up. "If there's more like her, then I want to-"_

_The dead woman's hand snapped up and seized the princess by the neck. _

_The next thing the princess knew, the supposedly dead woman was standing to her feet, her fingers, horribly strong at that, curled around her foe's throat in an iron grip. The princess's mentor tried to intervene, but the madwoman caught her with a kick to the stomach. It wasn't enough to knock her off her feet, but it did send her stumbling back a couple of meters. And then a wall of fire erupted from the ground, surrounding the princess and the madwoman and preventing anyone from interfering._

"_Nice try," croaked the madwoman. She lifted the struggling princess up with one hand and grinned through the horrific ruin her face had become. And to the princess's shock, she started to heal: the shattered bones of her skull reconstructing and becoming whole, muscles and sinews returning to their proper places, blood flowing back and sealing itself up in new veins, and, at the very end, flawless skin growing back to cover it all. Soon her face was complete once more. "But you of all people should know that death is not always as final as it seems."_

_The princess tried to speak, but the madwoman's grip was too strong. "How-" she managed to choke out._

"_How?" The madwoman threw her head back and cackled. "How did I survive, you mean?" She touched two fingers to her cheek. "Oh, surely you can't be that dense. After all, you possess the same kind of…durability."_

_The princess boggled at that. No, that was impossible. The madwoman couldn't be suggesting _that. _After all, the princess was the only one of her kind, wasn't she?_

_Though come to think of it, wasn't there supposed to be at least one other-_

_Then the madwoman set the princess on fire._

_The princess threw her head back to scream, but if any sound came out, she was too deafened by agony to notice. The pain was _immense: _every nerve in her body had been set ablaze. Her skin was starting to crack and peel, and she could feel the fat underneath…By the gods, she was feeling her _own fat _melt!_

"_In case the pain is too great for your brain to comprehend what is happening," the madwoman said in a conversational tone, "you are currently being burned alive. I am told that the process is excruciating." She shrugged. "Well, I wouldn't know firsthand. I have an extremely high tolerance for heat, you see. But the screams of those I have roasted have given me enough information to go off on."_

_Then she brought the princess in closer, so that their faces were separated by only a few centimeters. "And you know what, oh exalted Princess of the Moon? You burn just as prettily as the rest of them." _

_With that, she hurled the princess's charred body through the wall of flame._

_By then, the princess couldn't even feel the pain; her nervous system had been entirely burned away. In fact, she couldn't even remember anything after sailing limply through the fire, so she supposed she had died. But then her so-called gifts rectified that, and she awoke in agony. _

_She was lying in the dirt, with the madwoman standing over her. Though she had returned to life, her skin was still regenerating, leaving her in incredible pain._

"_Wasn't fun, was it?" The madwoman shrugged. "Best get used to it, because it's going to be happening to you much more regularly from now on."_

_The princess found her voice. "Who…who are you?" she rasped. _

"_Oh, haven't you figured it out?" The madwoman laughed in scorn. "Come on, I thought the Moon people were supposed to be smart."_

_The princess looked around but saw nothing but burnt and broken bamboo. Where was her mentor? "You're…you're that…that bandit who stole the…the Elixir we gave to the Emperor. Centuries ago."_

_The madwoman looked offended. "A bandit? Really? I…" Then she reconsidered. "No, I suppose in that specific instance I was one." She then crouched down and started to doodle in the dirt with one hissing, white-hot finger. "You know, people always make such a big deal about immortality, about how it's some sort of wonderful prize. But you and I know better, don't we?" She pressed her burning finger against the princess's leg, making her vision explode with pain. "Honestly, I found it to be rather overrated."_

_Then she stood back up. "But I have to admit, when you're after revenge, it really comes in handy. And when the person you want revenge on is also immortal, even better! That just means you can do whatever you want to them and not worry about them expiring before you've had your satisfaction!"_

_Grimacing, the princess clutched at her seared leg. Still, she managed to glare defiantly at the madwoman. "What the hell did I ever do to you?" she demanded. "Is this about making you immortal? That Elixir wasn't even meant for you! You have no one to blame but your stupid self!"_

_Then she gasped in pain as the madwoman kicked her in the ribs. "Is that what you think this is all about?" the Madwoman roared. "No! No, this is about what you did to my family. To my father." She thumped herself over the heart. "To me!"_

"_What the hell are you-"_

_The madwoman kicked her again. "You wouldn't remember, of course. I doubt you even learned his name. Just another hapless suitor to be disposed of by your so-called quest!"_

_The princess gaped up at her. "Is that what this is all about? Your father was one of those fools trying to win my hand? Sun, moon, and stars, that was centuries ago! Get over it!"_

_That appeared to be the wrong thing to say, as the madwoman suddenly snapped. She reached down, seized the princess by the collar of her restored robe, and screamed, "You RUINED him! You destroyed my family; you destroyed me! And now I, Fujiwara no Mokou, daughter of Fujiwara no Fuhito, swear that I will deliver you, Kaguya Houraisan, Princess of the Moon, into a world of endless torment! And nobody will be able to stop me: not you, not your mentor Eirin Yagokoro, nobody! I swear you will not have one moment of rest that is not filled with-"_

_The rest of Mokou's rant was suddenly cut of as a jagged piece of bamboo was jabbed through her neck. Her eyes popped with surprise, she coughed up blood, and fell over onto her side, dead._

_Before Kaguya could process what had happened, Eirin was at her side. "Princess!" she cried, grabbing her under the armpits and hauling her up. "Get up _now!"

_Kaguya nodded, and soon the two of them were fleeing over the forest. "That's her, isn't it?" Eirin shouted as they flew. "That's the missing Hourai Immortal!"_

"_Yes, and she really, really hates me!" Kaguya shouted back. "We need to-"_

_A shriek of pure fury interrupted them. Kaguya looked over her shoulder and felt an icy rush of fear. Mokou was alive again and was now flying in hot pursuit; quite literally, as she was now blazing brighter than a comet. _

"_Oh gods, she's after us." Kaguya grabbed Eirin by the arm. "Quickly! Before she gets in range, we need to…"_

"Get down!" Kaguya cried out. She dropped down, dragging the two originals along with her as Mokou's tumbling body whizzed right past where their heads had been. Mokou kept going, smashing right through Eirin's desk to bounce down the stairs until she finally came to rest in the shattered remains of a glass case and the priceless burial urns it had contained.

Unperturbed, Eirin simply strolled around the ruin and made her way toward where Mokou lay unmoving, surrounded by blue steam. She snapped on a pair of thick rubber gloves and reached into the mess. From there, she hoisted Mokou's body out. Head and Body blinked. Mokou was now frozen stiff and covered from head to toe with blue frost.

"Yes," Eirin said. "I am aware of her immunities." She threw Mokou's body onto the floor and shook her head in disgust. "Kaguya? Please see to the mess; outside first, and then the one in here. Head? Body? If you would be so kind as to join me, please."

"Right," Kaguya said, sounding annoyed. "Okay." Shaking her head, she rolled up her sleeves and thrust her hands out at the city.

Before the twins' startled eyes, the city seemed to kick into reverse. The fire and smoke swiftly retracted, gathering into a single backwards-moving explosion that was sucked back up into its point of origin and disappeared. The damaged buildings reconstructed themselves, the broken pieces of rubble simply flying back to their original places and the breaks healing themselves away. The panicked crowds changed direction and charge back the way they came, all the while moving backwards. Then they dispersed and settled into whatever they were doing before Mokou had entered their lives.

In less than five seconds, it was done. Houraisan had forgotten the wound Fujiwara no Mokou had inflicted upon it.

"Girls?" Eirin said, jolting Head and Body out of their surprised stupor. "I know it's a wondrous sight to behold, but I really need you down here."

Wordlessly, the Kaguya twins headed down to where Eirin stood over Mokou. Behind them, Kaguya started repairing the damage to Eirin's office, all the while muttering, "Ten minutes. She isn't here for ten minutes, and she blows up a city block. We should have just made her a terrorist, it would have simplified things."

…

Regaining consciousness after having suffered a messy death was nothing new to Mokou; she did it on a near-daily basis. And being in great pain while her body regenerated was also dull routine by that point.

But waking up to find her body stiff with bitter cold? That was a new one. Usually her internal furnace was enough to warm her whenever Kaguya decided to use frost magic against her. But in keeping with the horrible day she was having, this time she rose from the dead with her teeth chattering.

Fortunately, that at least she could do something about. Deciding that her current state would not do at all, she swept her body with fire.

To her satisfaction, it worked. The frost evaporated in an instant, taking the cold with it and replacing it with soothing warmth. Mokou breathed out a sigh of relief.

Then she fell about half a meter and landed on her back. Apparently whatever she had been lying on had not been fireproof.

As Mokou blinked in surprise and tried to take stock of her surroundings, a very familiar voice said, "Well, that does it for the couch. Told you we should have stuck her somewhere else."

This complaint was answered by the exact same voice. "So? Just make another one. You just rebuilt a city block, for crying out loud!"

Head and Body. Well, at least she had found them without _too _much trouble, though she was going to have some words with them over that ice comet. Unfair of them to sneak attack her like that, especially after all that crap they gave her about their stupid truce. Plus, they still had to answer for that incident in the home and gardening shop. Shaking her head, Mokou sat up and looked toward the direction the voices were coming from.

As expected, there they were: two Kaguya Houraisans, both wearing those dumb uniforms and sitting side by side on a couch. Mokou glanced at the one with the tie hanging undone around her neck. "Body," she said in a dull voice. Then she looked at the one whose tie was still neatly knotted. "Head."

"Hi," Head said.

Then Mokou glanced at the person standing behind the couch with her arms folded. Her eyebrows shot up, and she squinted.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," said the Kaguya in the neatly pressed suit.

"Ah," Mokou said. "Well." She looked back at the twins. "One," she said, pointing at Body. Then she pointed at Head. "Two." Then she moved her finger to the _third _Kaguya, took a deep breath, and just said, _"Why?"_

The third Kaguya smirked. "Because the world hates you. Haven't you figured it out yet?"

"Hey, don't blame us for her," Body said with a shrug. "It wasn't our idea."

"Yeah, but…_whyyyy?" _Mokou whined. She sounded like she was on the verge of tears. One Kaguya was a blight upon the world. Two was a cruel trick straight out of Hell. Three made her long for oblivion. "Did she come from that foot I cut off or something?"

Head blinked. "Huh. You know, I forgot about that." She turned in her seat to look at the third Kaguya. "Did you?"

"No."

"Mokou, chill," Body said. She leaned back against the armrest and crossed her legs. "She's not real."

The third Kaguya looked offended. "Hey, I'm standing right here!"

"You know, if you want to get technical about it, you actually aren't," Body drawled.

Mokou stared. "What?"

Head rolled her eyes and sighed. "Look, she's like that teacher friend of yours, the one that visited you earlier. Another dream person, but one with a working personality." She glanced up at her doppelganger. "Albeit a kind of _annoying_ one, but hey."

"Those who live in glass houses, sweetie."

Mokou twisted her face up in confusion. She stood up and brushed the ash from the destroyed couch off her clothes. "Wait, so she's a dream representation of…yourself?"

"Uh-huh."

"Oh my gods." Mokou closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Godsdamnit, Kaguya. You just got done sexing yourself up, and now you're dreaming about yourself? Why don't you replace those stupid posters of yours with self-portraits and coat your ceiling with mirrors?"

All three Kaguyas sighed in synchronization, something that made Mokou's skin crawl. "Right," Body seethed. "Because _that _joke isn't getting incredibly old."

Then Mokou was struck by a thought, one that made her perk up. "Wait, if she's not really you, can I kill her?"

The third Kaguya glowered. "No!" she said at once. The twins, however, looked torn. That gave Mokou a measure of satisfaction. It seemed that Kaguya was just as annoying to herself as she was to her.

However, that was when a _fourth _voice broke into the conversation, one that wasn't Kaguya's but no less familiar. "No, you may not," it said sternly. "Instead, you will restrain yourself and pay attention. We have much to discuss."

_Oh, fantastic, _Mokou moaned internally. _Her. _She turned around and saw that, yes, Eirin Yagokoro was right there.

Out of the few people that had remained present in Mokou's long life, Eirin was one of the few that she would admit to fearing. Though the Lunarian doctor stayed mostly on the sidelines of her war with Kaguya, there had been a few occasions in which Mokou had earned her wrath, usually unintentionally. And those occasions had been enough to convince her to focus her hatred on Kaguya and Kaguya alone. Eirin may not be a full immortal the same way Mokou and Kaguya were, but she was plenty powerful in her own right. What was more, she was _smart, _and despite her cool demeanor, she had a real mean streak that was best left unprovoked.

Mokou locked eyes with Eirin for a moment before asking, "So. Did this…" She frowned, and glanced over her shoulder at the Kaguya trio. "The hell was her name again? The person who ate us?"

"Rin Satsuki," Head answered.

"Right." Mokou turned back to Eirin. "So did Rin Satsuki eat you too, or are you another dream person?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Eirin said in a clipped tone. She nodded toward an empty chair. "Sit and listen."

Mokou thought back to what she had been told, about how Kaguya had been betrayed by her own mind. As entertaining as the thought might be, it did put her in a dangerous position. If this was the real Eirin, she would have said so. That meant that this was another highly realistic fake, one that was working with Rumia. She was in enemy territory. Caution was now essential if she was going to get out of this with the twins intact.

"I'll stand," she said, though not disrespectfully. "But I'll listen."

Eirin frowned, but nodded. "Fair enough."

…

Deeper down, in the shadowed underbelly of the shared subconscious mind of Fujiwara no Mokou and Kaguya Houraisan, Rumia Yagami was growing bored.

She sat on the withered husk of…some ugly Zerg-thing whose name Kerrigan had told her but had been swiftly forgotten. Surrounding her were more dead Zerg, all of them in pieces, all of them shriveled by the taint. There seemed to be no lack in their numbers or variations, but killing them had swiftly grown dull

She speared one of the little ones with her sword, watched it writhe and squeal until it turned black, and flicked it away with a sigh. **"So," **she said. **"Is this partnership actually going to go anywhere, or is this some sort of diabolical plan to kill me with tedium?"**

Across from her, Kerrigan's golden eyes flickered with annoyance. The self-proclaimed Queen of Blades stood among the bodies of her brethren, but if their deaths affected her, she had yet to make any sign. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said, sounding anything but. "Do you find the entertainment we've provided for you to be…lacking?"

Rumia slipped off the dead beast and marched over toward the dream's emissary. **"I don't want entertainment, I want to get to work," **she said, stopping when she was less than a third of a meter away.** "I've got a date with a little amorphous bitch that I'm already late for, and sitting around swatting bugs isn't improving my mood any."**

She poked at Kerrigan's chitinous chest, sending a spiderweb of the taint over the surface. Kerrigan retreated with a hiss. **"You promised me an exit. You promised to speed me to Rin Satsuki's subconscious. Where's my godsdamned exit?"**

Kerrigan glowered, but retained her composure. "Patience," she said. "We have Kaguya already, and are in the process of securing Mokou. Soon you will have your exit."

"**Damn right, I will," **Rumia hissed. She turned to walk away, but paused.

"**Oh, by-the-by," **she said over her shoulder.

Kerrigan cocked her head quizzically.

Rumia smirked. She pressed the tip of her sword into the ground. The stone hissed and crumbled around the blade. **"Do anything stupid like stab me in the back while screaming 'Here's your exit,' or some other ill-advised attempt at karmic irony, and I kill you." **She pressed the tip of her sword into the ground. The stone hissed and crumbled around the blade. **"Do note that I don't mean something so trite as kill this sapient lobster; that's just burning off empty calories. I mean rendering Kaguya to a drooling idiot, unable to so much as visualize a gnat." **Her nail-teeth parted, and her tongue snaked to run over her blood-red lips. **"See how many overgrown worms you can conjure after that."**

With that, she stalked away, leaving Kerrigan to fume in her wake.

…

"No," Mokou said.

The dream's (or fantasy; Mokou wasn't bothering to keep track) representation of Eirin Yagokoro had just finished outlining their plan to deal with Rumia. As was to be expected by any plan birthed in the mind of Kaguya, it was stupid, short-sighted, and unforgivably self-indulgent. Mokou found herself wishing that she really was talking to the real Eirin, as she at least would be able to come up with something smart. She also noted the irony in that she was giving Eirin more respect than Kaguya's mind was. Having her embodiment voice such a ludicrous plan was nothing short of insulting.

The twins looked hardly surprised at her refusal, and Kaguya simply rolled her eyes and said, "See? I told you so."

As for Eirin, she looked annoyed by Mokou's answer. "Well, we weren't exactly holding out for your cooperation. However, perhaps you'd like to voice your specific objections?"

Mokou shoved her hands in her pockets. "No, not really," she said, rocking back and forth on her heels. "I try to not make a habit of debating with imaginary people."

"Except when they look like dead members of your family?" Body snickered.

Mokou felt a familiar rush of rage, but beat it back down. "Yeah, about that," she said, turning toward the twins. "See, while you two were skipping about in your little fantasy land here, I got to relive the night that the orphanage got destroyed and had a chat with my father." She shrugged. "Let's just say I hope you've been having a better time than I did, seeing all those scorched bodies and getting talked down to by ghosts from my past."

To her credit, Body actually looked a little abashed. Kaguya, however, wasn't sympathetic in the slightest.

"Oh, so sorry to hear that Daddy was in a bad mood," she snapped. She laid a hand on each of the twins' shoulders. "Tell me: did he chop your head off? If no, then you got off lightly."

"Kaguya, enough," Eirin ordered. Mokou arched an eyebrow. She wasn't sure if that argument represented actual mental dissonance on Kaguya's part or if it was just an elaborate puppet show, but it was interesting nonetheless.

As Kaguya backed off with her palms held up and a mocking sneer on her face, Eirin said to Mokou, "Is it Rumia? Is that why you object to this course of action? I know you still must feel responsible for her."

Mokou's eyes grew cold. "Excuse me?"

"Don't think we don't understand. You cared for the girl; we know that much. And having to stand against her after believing her dead for so long must be hard. You fear that sending her into Rin Satsuki's clutches will end her life in spectacularly painful fashion, therefore causing you to bear the same sin that you hated those men for." Eirin lightly touched her hand over her heart. "Believe me, I know how hard that must be. But you must face the facts, Mokou. The Rumia Yagami you knew is gone, and whatever connection the current one might have to the original, it doesn't change what must be done."

"Is that right," Mokou said, her voice dangerously low.

"It is," Eirin said, nodding. "Sometimes, for the greater good, sacrifices must be made."

Sacrifices. Mokou thought back to the world that existed within her mind. Burning cities, withered wastelands, vengeful ghosts, and dead children. She thought of her father's cold eyes, Satoko's scornful words, and Umakai's open contempt. She thought of the charred remains of that crucifix and the pleading whispers of the orphans. She thought of Rumia.

Then she looked around at Eirin Yagokoro's office, with all of its comforts, priceless artifacts, and displays of self-congratulation. She looked out at the city beyond, a tranquil utopia that had been set up with Kaguya as its ruler.

"Nice city," she said at last, putting her hand on her hip.

This took the three Kaguyas and Eirin off guard. Head and Body exchanged sidelong looks, and Head leaned over to whisper in her twin's ear. Eirin frowned suspiciously, her grey eyes probing Mokou's face.

Not surprisingly, it was Kaguya, the fake one, that recovered first. "We like it," she said as that infuriating smirk crept back up her face. "Guess what it's called."

Mokou frankly couldn't care less. "And say I do agree to go along with this, would there be a place for me here? You know, while we wait."

"What are you doing?" Eirin demanded. Mokou ignored her, focusing her attention on Prime Minister Kaguya Houraisan, who was now walking toward her.

"Oh, absolutely," she said genially. "In fact, you're quite the celebrity here! No doubt you've noticed how many adoring fans you have. You know, right before you set them on fire."

"Mmmm-hmmm. And hey, what exactly was that…thing they thought I was?"

"What, you don't know?" Kaguya produced a magazine seemingly from nowhere and displayed its cover to Mokou. It again showed her in that ridiculous skimpy get-up, only this time she winking seductively and blowing a kiss at the camera. Mokou, who never blew kisses at anyone for any reason, found the whole thing to be unforgivably obscene. "Why, you are none other than Mokou Phoenix, the world-famous idol singer!"

The explanation just made Mokou stare uncomprehending. She was struck with the mental image of a chorus of stone deities. "I'm a what?"

Over on the couch, Head cleared her throat. "Uh, it's a type of musician. Sort of. A singer that's usually promoted as being equal parts sexy and innocent, and specifically marketed toward young girls."

"Exactly," Kaguya said, nodding. "We felt it would be the best role for you. You know, since you're so good with children."

Mokou raised an eyebrow. "Oh, is that so?"

And with that, she fired a column of white-hot flame so dense that it almost had physical mass. It struck Kaguya in the chest, disintegrated her on impact, and launched her remains through the glass wall. Her ashes were then scattered all over her city.

The twins cried out in shock and scrambled over each other to get away from the heat. Eirin took a step forward, likely with the intention of breaking Mokou in half, but she was stopped when Mokou turned and covered the Lunarian doctor's face with her hand.

Eirin's body froze in place. Her fearful eyes stared out from between Mokou's fingers, mutely pleading with her. That just angered Mokou further. Kaguya had lived with Eirin all her life, and this was the best imitation she could come up with?

Speaking in slow and measured tones, Mokou said, "Now, I know Eirin Yagokoro. I was created by Eirin Yagokoro. I had some very nasty run-ins with Eirin Yagokoro. Eirin Yagokoro scares me more than anyone alive." She brought her face closer, her breath reeking of brimstone. "And the thought that you could be her just fucking disgusts me."

When Mokou turned away, there wasn't enough left of Eirin to fill a dustpan.

Across from her, Head and Body had pressed themselves so tightly against the couch that it looked like they were trying to melt into the fabric. Their already pale faces had gone white with shock. Mokou was pleased. If ever she wanted Kaguya's undivided attention, this was the time.

Heat radiating out from her like an oven, Mokou strode purposefully toward the cowering twins. Adding to her satisfaction, they actually looked intimidated. "Wait," Head said as she tried to get her limbs to move. "We have a truce, we have a truce, we have a-erk!"

Dialing down the heat at the last second, Mokou seized both Head and Body with a hand to each neck and shoved them down against the cushions. "Listen to me, you…you…" Mokou tried to think of an insult heavy enough to convey her contempt but for once came short. "Well, just listen. Now, I've never credited you for having a lot in the way of brains. Sure, you can stumble into something clever every now and then, but for the most part, I'd say it's pretty obvious who does all the thinking for you."

Body struggled and growled. "Let go of me, you-"

Mokou tightened her grip, shutting her up. "But even so, this 'idea' of yours is a whole new level of stupid. Just let Rumia go and hope she takes care of Rin Satsuki for us? Did being cut in two make your brain stop working so you decided to start thinking with your ass? If not, maybe you should try it; it'll probably be an improvement!"

Head grabbed at the fingers around her throat and tried to get them to loosen. "Not…our…idea…" she managed to get out.

"It still came from your mind, and you were going to go along with it, so it counts," Mokou shot back. She gave the twins one last shove before releasing them and walking away.

As Head and Body choked and gasped for breath, Mokou looked out the window at the vile city sprawled out before her. Sure, it _looked _pretty, but it was nothing more than an ornate trap, specifically designed to ensnare a certain immortal Lunarian nitwit. And she had taken the bait, hook, line, and sinker. Mokou was tempted to just leave Kaguya, both of her, to their own devices and go off on her own. They deserved it at this point, and she would make better headway without them.

But she couldn't. Even with the pesky problem of needing them to be the other half of the key out of here, Kaguya was still her arch-nemesis. Mokou despised her with every fiber of her being, but that didn't mean she longed for a life without her. A life as long as her own needed some sort of purpose.

Without turning around, Mokou said, "If we just pit those two against each other and stand back, we're screwed. If Rin Satsuki wins, so what? We're still her prisoners, and she has absolute power over us. Doesn't matter if she'll be hurt or not, Rumia is the only one who knows how to actually fight her from within. And after Rin Satsuki kills Rumia, you think she won't figure out who let her loose?"

Though the Kaguya twins were still coughing, neither of them moved to argue with her. Mokou spared them the briefest of glances over her shoulder to see that they were watching her warily. Good.

She continued: "If Rumia wins, that's even worse. Be like burning down a house while we're still in it. You know, if we weren't immortal or fireproof. And even if it doesn't bring this whole dream nonsense crumbling down around our heads, Rin Satsuki will be dead. Who the hell will let us out? Her brain will be burned out from the inside. We'll be stuck here, forever. That what you want?"

"Well..." Head started to say.

"Oh, so you do want to be stuck here?" Mokou turned around and leaned backed against the glass, arms folded over her chest. "Is that what this is all about? You found your perfect little utopia. Finally, a whole world that revolves solely around you!" Her eyes got that dark look again. "One where everyone bends over backward to serve your every want while I get put in silly outfits and humiliated. Must be nice."

A flash of annoyance crossed Body's face. "Actually, we're not so hot on being stuck here either. I mean, it's pretty, but it isn't home."

"Don't say 'hot,'" Head muttered. "You'll give her ideas."

Mokou tilted her head. "Is that right? I didn't hear you voicing any complaints back when those wannabes were trying to fill my head with crap."

Somewhere in the hospital, an alarm had gone off. Red lights start flash from the corners of the room, and she heard sirens in the distance. Sighing, Mokou walked away from the window and sank into one of the chairs. Full credit where it was due: this city may be a ghastly menagerie of plastic temptations, but those temptations were certainly comfortable.

"Turn that damned alarm off," she said wearily.

"How?" Head frowned. "We didn't turn it on. How are we supposed to turn it off?"

Mokou closed her eyes and briefly muttered under her breath. When she was certain she had forestalled the headache, she said, "Were you not paying attention? This is your imagination, dumbass, not your subconscious. If you can't control your own godsdamned imagination, then there is no help for you."

Both of the Kaguya twins got that surly look that the original always wore whenever Mokou had scored a verbal barb that she had no answer for. Body turned to Head and asked, "Can we?"

Head shrugged. "We started to control the dream a little bit earlier. Worth a shot, right?"

Setting her mouth in a straight line, Body turned her head toward the bulk of the hospital, furrowed her brow in concentration, and thrust her hand forward.

The alarm shut off at once.

"Huh," she said. "That was easy." She looked to the shattered windows that her arrogant doppelganger had been sent through and made the same motion. The broken shards of glass flew back to their original positions and the cracks disappeared.

"Good work," Mokou sneered. "You fantasized about fixing a broken window." Part of her worriedly pointed out that teaching Kaguya how to exert godlike control over their surroundings was probably not in her best interests, but at that point she was too tired to care about such things as their temporarily halted rivalry. In light of the circumstances, that whole thing just seemed unimportant and petty.

With a sigh, she pushed up on the armrests and stood up. "Well, let's get out of here."

With a resigned nod of acknowledgement, Body moved to follow, but Head remained where she was. "And do what, exactly?" she said, bringing both Mokou and her twin to a stop.

"Excuse me?" Mokou said, looking over her shoulder.

Head hunched over her knees, a dark look in her eyes. "What exactly do you plan for us to do now? I mean, you said it yourself: we don't have the slightest idea how to attack Satsuki and make her do what we want. Only Rumia did, and differences in opinion on how to deal with her aside, I think we can all agree that she has either gone rogue or soon will. Both of our rebellious minds already confirmed that, along with confirming that she can kick both of our asses." She tilted her chin up. "So, what now, Mokou? We're trapped inside one monster and being hunted by another, and we can't beat either. You got some brilliant idea how to get us out of this mess? Because I don't mind telling you, I'm not all that eager to test how far our immortality goes when it's just our minds doing the fighting."

And that was the rub of it, because the truth was, as much as she had ridiculed the plan concocted by the manifestations of Kaguya's imagination, it was still better than anything she had in mind. She had no idea how they were going to deal with Rumia, whether to destroy or redeem her, and when it came to the problem of their omnipresent captor, she was even more out of her depth.

When Mokou declined to answer, Head's lips curled into a mocking smile. "Thought so," she said. "Well, I hope you can think of one soon, because I for one don't fancy finding out that Rumia can kill us after all."

"You really think she can?" Body said, sounding worried.

"Yes," Head said bluntly. "Or at least, I don't know the full extent of what she can do, only that it's apparently a lot. For all we know she can 'kill' our minds and leave us braindead."

Mokou slowly exhaled. "Kaguya, you think that maybe, all things considered, we've lived long enough as it is?"

"No," both twins said at the same time.

Mokou wasn't surprised by the answer, but she wasn't deterred by it. "I don't know," she said. "I mean, we're going on, what, a millennium plus now? That's a long, long time. You still want to be around when Gensokyo falls? Hmmm? Watch everyone you know grow old and die? Not even youkai live forever." Even as she said it, Mokou realized just how old it made her feel. Now, perhaps more than ever, she truly regretted her decision to have taken the Hourai Elixir. By rights she should have been dead, buried, and forgotten over a thousand years ago, and the time she had gained thanks to her decision had not been exactly pleasant. Enduring another thousand years felt stifling.

However, it seemed that Kaguya was not of the same mindset. "Yes," Body said without hesitation. "Yes, we do. _I _do." She stomped over to Mokou and jabbed her finger into her rival's chest. "Look, if you're started to feel the burden of your years, fine. Go talk to Eirin once we get out of this, she might have a way to unchain you from the mortal coil. But I for one intend to keep right on living. See, I _like _life, and ever since Eirin and I had our cover busted and got to join the rest of Gensokyo, I've realized just how much of it I've been missing, and how much of it is still out there. I love Gensokyo, but if I live to see it's end, then there's a great big universe out there to explore."

"And after you've seen the whole thing?" Mokou replied.

Body smirked. "By then the universe will probably have collapsed on itself anyway, so it's a moot point." She folded her arms. "And you still haven't answered Head's question. What do we do now?"

Mokou frowned. She gnawed on her lower lip as she thought. "All right, we do need to confront Rumia sooner or later. And both since you've gotten your imagination under control, and both your subconscious and mine agree that she's bad news, it'll probably be best to see if we can't get their help."

"What, you mean get the dream to work with us instead of against?" Head sounded incredulous. "Mokou, I don't know if you've read up on how the subconscious mind works, but I don't think it'll be that easy."

"Look, the whole reason it's been trying so hard to take us down is because of Rumia, right?" Mokou shot back. "So if we're the ones trying to stop her, the dream won't target us anymore."

Body let out a sigh. "Mokou, stop being naïve. It doesn't suit you. Dreams are dreams. They do what they want, reason be damned. Just because it wants Rumia dead doesn't mean it won't stop working to make our lives miserable."

That was true enough, but Mokou wasn't about to step down in this. "Hey, I got my subconscious to back me in this, and my subconscious hates me," she argued, pointing at herself with her thumb. "Surely someone who loves herself as much as you two do can get the rest of your noggin to cooperate."

With that, she started walking away again, calling over her shoulder, "Either way, I'm confronting her, with or without you. Stay here in fantasy land until she comes for you if you want."

To the twins' credit, Mokou had almost reached the exit before they gave in and ran after her. She said nothing, but still smiled in satisfaction.

As for the exit itself, it did appear to be a door of some kind, but damned if Mokou could figure out how to work it. While advanced technology didn't really faze her, that didn't mean she had the slightest clue how to work a silver double-door that had no lock, handle, or knob. There were a bunch of buttons set into a sort of metal rectangle to its side, but Mokou wasn't about to go pushing to see what they did.

"So…" she said, gesturing toward the door. "How's that work?"

"Oh Mokou, you're hopeless," Head groused. She whacked one of the buttons, which lit up at her touch. In response, a bell rang and the door slid open. Beyond was a small room with a red velvet floor and walls that were made from polished silver inlaid with Lunarian symbols up to waist height, and spotless mirrors the rest of the way up. Mokou's face twisted up in confusion.

"Wait," she said. She stuck her head through the door and looked around. "What's this, some kind of closet?"

The twins gaped at her. "Seriously?" Body said. "You don't know an elevator when you-Gah, never mind." She shoved Mokou into the small room. "Get in already."

The door slid shut, and Mokou's hackles rose. "Wait a minute, what is this this room?" she demanded. "This isn't going to turn into some kind of torture chamber, is it?"

Head and Body exchanged a look. "You know," Body said. "All of Rumia's complaining about us being paranoid is starting to make sense." To Mokou, she said, "Mokou, it's a freaking elevator. It's a box that pulled up and down by machinery. It lets you quickly get from the bottom of a building to the top if you don't like stairs."

Mokou frowned. "Well, that sounds incredibly lazy. And what's wrong with flying?"

"Most buildings don't let you zip around indoors, sweetie cakes," Head answered in a cloyingly sweet voice. "And sometimes you just need to get your ass to where you need to go as fast as possible."

Mokou shrugged. "Okay, fair enough." She motioned with her hand. "So get our asses to where they need to go."

This was greeted by blank stares. Head cleared her throat. "And…how would you like us to do that, exactly? Because unless where we need to be happens to be on-" She shot a quick glance to the panel of buttons. "-floors one through eight, then we're out of luck."

"You've got godlike control over this city now, don't you?" Mokou retorted. "So fix this thing so it goes where you want to!"

Body looked startled by the idea, while Head just looked dubiously at the rows of buttons. "Well, I guess we can try," she said. "Though you still haven't told us where we're going."

That part at least was easy to answer. This whole journey always had but one destination. "The place we were heading for anyway," she said. "The center of our subconscious minds. That'll give us the best chance of controlling things if things turn violent."

"You mean 'when,' but okay," Body muttered. The twins turned toward the panel and started to point, but Mokou quickly interjected: "No, wait. Not the center, or at least not the exact center. Not the place she wanted us to go to open the exit. Make it…somewhere along the edge, out of sight."

The twins nodded. "Okay." They started to point at the button, but then Mokou had another thought.

"Oh yeah, and make sure wherever we go doesn't have anything nasty waiting for us," she instructed. "I don't want to open the door and see another velmick waiting for us."

The twins looked a little annoyed, but nodded again. But before they could go through with it, Mokou thought of something else. "Oh yeah, and make it some place that has everything we need if we're going to war. Weapons, defenses, minions, that sort of thing."

"Okay, fine!" Head snapped. She and Body thrust their fingers at the panel, and a new button materialized beneath the others. Beneath it was some kind of written description that Mokou had to lean in close to read. It said:

"Some hidden, out of the way corner of the center of our joined subconscious minds where it would be real hard to find us that doesn't have anything nasty sneaking around trying to kill, maim, eat, or regale us with annoying lectures targeting our self-esteem, and comes equipped with some kind of super fortress thingamajig with all the crap we need to kick Rumia's ass should it come to that. And throw in a godsdamned decent sushi bar in while you're at it, because I swear that wine was the only thing on this godsforsaken trip that didn't taste like crap."

Mokou resisted the urge to bury her face in her hands. "Yeah, okay," she said in a weary voice. "Close enough."

"Good to hear," Head said. Then she whacked the button.

…

Kerrigan's head jerked up. She looked around, brow furrowed and glowing eyes narrowed. It seemed as if she were sniffing the air.

Rumia, a predator born, noticed immediately.

"**What is it?" **she said as she stopped her murderous entertainment and dropped into a defensive crouch. **"What's happening?"**

The answer was long in coming. Kerrigan didn't even look like she had heard the question. She just kept her gaze focused upward, as if she were watching for something.

"**Well?" **Rumia demanded at last.

Kerrigan shuddered. She slowly dropped down and looked to her impatient guest. "They're coming," she said. "Mokou and Kaguya. They're on their way and should be here soon."

Rumia's burning eyes bore into Kerrigan's, as if trying to ascertain the fictional creature's sincerity. Apparently she was satisfied with what she saw, as she bared her steel-nail teeth in a wide grin and said, **"Good. About time too."**

"Yes," Kerrigan said. She twitched again, tearing her gaze away. "It is." Then she stalked off into the darkness.

…

Upon reflection, it was a good thing that Kaguya had never actually ridden in an elevator. Oh, she knew what they were, how they worked, and had them described to her a number of times, allowing her to recreate one perfectly in her imagination. But had she been just a little more familiar with certain features they offered, she might have accidentally added one of the more annoying ones simply because she expected it to be there: namely, preppy elevator music.

Fortunately, this elevator was burdened with no such thing, making the trip down to be one of silence. Head and Body stood side-by-side, watching the numbers on the floor indicator above the door descend. Mokou had sat down cross-legged in one corner, and was concentrating on something.

After stealing glances at her for about seven floors, Body's curiosity got the better of her. "Okay, fine," she said. "What are you doing?"

Mokou spared her the briefest of glances before focusing back on the floor. "Trying to remember everything I can about the orphanage. Most of it's coming back, but I have a feeling I'm going to need all the memories of it I can get."

That drew Head's attention. "So, you think you can reach her? Make her remember you, and make her stop being so hellbent on evil?"

Mokou shrugged. "I can try. At the very least, maybe it'll throw her off her game."

Which was fair logic. The twins nodded and looked back to the floor indicator. Floor three went by, followed by floor two. And then they hit ground floor.

The elevator stopped.

Head and Body were on their guard immediately. Mokou noticed, and stood up, her eyes darting about warily. "What's going on?" she said. "Why are we stopping?"

"No idea," Body said. "But I don't like it."

"In that, we are of one mind." Head pressed her back against the wall. "Okay Mokou, keep your eye on the ceiling. If any panels start to open, melt whoever's on the other side."

Mokou gave her a look, probably out of irritation at being given orders by Kaguya, but she nodded and turned her attention upward.

"Body? You've got the floor. You see so much as a crack, holler."

"Got it," Body said as she looked down.

Head took the door for herself. Silently she stared at the slit, just waiting for it to slide open and reveal something horrible.

_Come on, _she thought. _Don't keep us waiting. If this is going to happen, then make it-_

The elevator shook once. Mokou's hands flared up, and she almost fired off a fireball on instinct.

Five seconds passed, and the three immortals exchanged puzzled looks. "So…" Body ventured, "what was-"

The elevator shook again, more violently this time. It kept on shaking, and a grinding, screeching sound accompanied the tremors, like steel being dragged across rough concrete.

"The hell is that?" Mokou demanded. She winced as the sound assaulted her eardrums.

"I don't know!" Head shouted back. She wanted to cover her ears with her hands, but didn't dare for fear she would need them to defend herself. The sound was torture though; it grated her nerves like sandpaper.

And then, just like that, it was over. The racket ceased, and the elevator gave one last shudder before going still.

Head frowned in puzzlement. "What in the name of the Great Bear was-"

And then the elevator simply dropped straight down as if the hospital's foundations had disappeared and its cable had been cut, which for all they knew had been the case. Taken by surprise by the sudden drop, Head, Body, and Mokou fell over each other, and Head slammed her forehead against the wall, making her see stars.

…

_For those of you who don't know, the "Taker" part of my screen name comes from my being a huge fan of professional wrestler the Undertaker. And you know what? I think it was well chosen, because I feel like the Undertaker sometimes, in that I regularly disappear without warning for several weeks/months, make a triumphant return in which I stir things up for a short while and make it look like I'll be sticking around this time, only to vanish again. But I had good reason this time. Er, not to say all the other times didn't have good reasons, but…anyway._

_If you'll recall, at the end of the last chapter I said that in order for Imperfect Metamorphosis to continue, I needed to wrap up Rhapsody of Subconscious Desire. Like, immediately. But as I still had some work to do, I decided to get it all done in one go. At the time, I predicted it would take about two chapters to finish things up._

_I was wrong. But then, I usually am._

_So what was supposed to be two chapters ended up being five. So yeah, next time I make a prediction for how long something will take, just multiply it by three._

_Roughly around the same time, I started coaching angel0wonder (the author of A Happy Dream, Resonance Days' sister fic) in how to write faster (yeah, yeah, I know, I know. Breathe in the irony). And to motivate her, I promised that if she finished her chapter by the end of that month, I would write a romance-themed RD spinoff. She kept her promise, so I kept mine. Unfortunately, there's been some kind of hold up with her beta-reader…to the tune of several months…so yeah, that's a thing. I don't know the full situation so I won't comment on it, but I really hope she gets it back soon, because I need my AHD fix, dammit! _

_But anyway, my end of the bargain ended up being three chapters long, which I wrote in concurrence with the remaining RoSD chapters. As such, I figured that since I'll have eight chapters worth of material, why not release it all over the space of a month? And just to remind the spinoffs who's boss, I decided to throw an IM and a RD chapter in there as well._

_So yeah, that's ten story updates that'll be going up over the course of October, the full schedule of which is on my profile. The rest of RoSD is all done and ready to roll out, the RD chapter just needs to be edited, the RD spinoff (First Time) just needs a few finishing touches on the individual chapters, and while I haven't started the IM chapter yet, I'm going to make damned sure it's ready to go when it's time comes. As such, I hereby declare of October to be the Month of Taker! Yeah, I know it's narcissistic, but I'm releasing ten freaking chapters! I get to call it whatever I want! _

_Oh, and if you're wondering, yes First Time is going to be exactly what it sounds like. Full explanation will be posted when it goes up._

_You also may notice a new link on my profile. Yup, I finally got with the times and started a Tumblr. It'll mainly be a place for me to babble about whatever I feel like, and that mainly will be story business: progress reports, commentary, reflections, that sort of thing. As such, after it gets rolling, I'm going to be posting most of my post-chapter thoughts there, and mainly leave the author's notes for current news. Those will be going up about a day after the chapter's been posted, and the added space will let me go into greater detail about the chapters in question. I'm thinking of eventually doing a look-back on IM and RD's older chapters, but that's something for the future. So yeah, feel free to drop by, ask questions, offer suggestions, or whatever you please._

_But that's for the future. As for this chapter, you'll probably notice that it's…kinda short and not all that exciting, especially considering the long wait. Sorry about that. It was originally supposed to just be the opening scene for the next chapter, but that grew to become its own thing, and this one didn't really mesh well. So I beefed it up a bit and made it its own thing. In hindsight I should have just made it part of the last chapter, but what'cha gonna do? Next chapter should make up for it though.  
_

_But speaking of the last chapter, many of you noticed that I snuck in an Oktavia cameo (the mermaid with short, blue hair) from Resonance Days. It was intended to just be a short, cute thing for those who read both stories to giggle at, which is what happened. But then, a week later, the demo for DDC came out, which debuted a new character. Specifically, a mermaid with short, blue hair._

_I'm a prophet! :D_

_As for DDC and HM and how they will or will not be worked into IM, I'll put that up on Tumblr later on today. Hey, I gotta keep some stuff exclusive to get you guys to follow. _

_Anyway, I think I've covered everything. As such, I hereby declare the Month of Taker to be officially open!_

_Until next time, everyone! _


	11. Dirty Laundry in an Elevator

Dirty Laundry in an Elevator

_Her eyes fluttered. Consciousness faded in and out, never far enough for her to fully awake and face the situation or to escape down into oblivion. Instead, she was held in limbo._

_Part of her was aware that she was in incredible pain, but that was such a common state of being that it was hardly worth mentioning. There was also something wet and slimy being draped around her neck. She probably should be concerned about that, but her thoughts were so scattered that it was difficult to care._

_Then something jabbed into her and sent an electric shock through her skull._

_Mokou's eyes snapped open, and she started gasping. She was sitting on one of the upper branches of a very tall tree, just beyond the border of the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. Her body was a wreck: legs and arms broken and bound in such a way to prevent them from healing, face a bruised mess, she was covered with her own blood, and unless she missed her guess…_

_She glanced down and scowled. Her stomach had been split open, and the grey coils of her intestines had been pulled out._

"_Smells, doesn't it?" Kaguya said cheerfully. The Lunarian Princess was standing on the branch next to her. Mokou's intestines were in her hands, and she was busy looping them around a higher branch. "Seriously Mokou, what have you been eating?"_

_Mokou eyed Kaguya's activities. She noticed that the end of her digestive tract had been cut, and her intestines were now tied around her neck in familiar fashion. "Really?" she croaked. "Lynch me…with my own intestines?"_

"_Hey, I've got a free evening with nothing better to do, so why not try a little arts and crafts?" Kaguya gave her grisly noose one final tug and nodded in satisfaction. "Well, I think that should do it. Score in my favor."_

"_For…for now." Mokou grinned, exposing her broken and bloody teeth. "Be seeing you soon."_

"_Just like always, huh?"_

"_Yup. If there's…if there's one constant…in your life…it's that I will always be there…to hurt you…and kill you…" Mokou let out a rasping laughing. "No matter…what…I will…always hound you. And…you me. We're…soul mates…in a way."_

_Kaguya's smile disappeared. "And to think, I was wondering if I was going too far." With that, she kicked Mokou off the branch._

_The noose tightened around her neck, cutting off her air. Mokou swung back and forth, unable to do anything about her predicament. Well, no, she could still incinerate the tree she was tied to, or generate enough heat to keep her afloat. But at this point, it was honestly just easier let herself die. Eventually, her body would wise up to the fact that her insides were not living up to their name and start unlooping and retracting her intestines, causing her body to fall. And from there, she would be able to heal normally. _

_And then she would get her revenge. The score would be evened, and Kaguya would die in great pain, just like she always did. it was an endless circle of violence, one that Mokou intended to keep spinning for as long as she was able. Three hundred years, and she was still going strong._

_Despite the loss of oxygen to her brain, Mokou still managed a smile. She had something to look forward to, after all. Then her eyes fluttered, and…_

…consciousness faded in and out. Mokou twitched, grimaced, and slowly forced herself back to full wakefulness. It was tough going, but she was well accustomed to the struggle.

When her senses finally returned, she found herself in the oddest position. She was upside-down, sprawled against one corner of Kaguya's elething, with her legs spread out against both walls. Her vision was still filled with spots, and she was sporting a massive bump on her head.

She idly wondered if she had died. It was something that happened so often, it was sometimes hard to tell if an injury had been fatal or simply meant she was going to be walking funny for a few minutes. She doubted that such was the case this time though, as smacking her head was hardly enough to dispatch even a normal person.

Gingerly she straightened herself out. The bump on her head screamed obscenities, but compared to the agony she lived with almost every day, it wasn't even worth acknowledging. She tested herself for broken bones and dislocated joints and found none.

Head and Body had likewise ended up in similar positions. Head was sitting slumped with her cheek pressed against the wall, while Body was lying with her face pressed against the velvet floor and her butt sticking in the air. Mokou found herself lamenting that she had never come across Kaguya in that position in the past when that damned truce wouldn't have gotten in the way of such an opportunity.

Easing the cricks out of her neck, Mokou said, "All right, everybody up. Looks like the worst has passed."

Head cranked open one eye just enough to glower at her. "You know, every time someone says that, they're practically begging fate to come up and kick their head in."

"No kidding," Body mumbled. Her voice sounded kind of funny. "I thought you knew better than…Ah hell." She sat back on her haunches and spat a couple of bloody white things into her palm. "Damn it, I knocked out some of my teeth."

Mokou was pleased to note that her bump was almost completely gone. "So? You'll grow them back."

"It's the principle of the thing." Body pocketed the teeth and looked around. "What in the world happened, anyway?"

Head shifted her legs into a more comfortable position. "That seems obvious. We told the elevator to go down further than the cable would allow, so the floor opened up and we got dropped into freefall."

"Really?" Mokou sat down against the corner she had been sprawled against. "Except for that beginning part, it really doesn't feel like it. I mean, where's the vertigo?"

Head shrugged. "I don't know, maybe we got slowed down. But we're definitely descending. I can feel that much at least."

"Ah." Mokou concentrated and decided that Head was right. "Okay then. Better make sure it gives us a soft landing, because otherwise we're going to end up as a spectacularly bloody mess."

"Wouldn't be the first time," Body smirked.

"No, but that doesn't mean I want it to be the _next."_

"Point," Body sighed. She turned to Head. "You know, we have to start wording things more carefully."

"Yes we do," Head agreed, and that was the last thing anyone said for some time.

After they had been falling for a few minutes, Body said, "I wonder what's going on outside."

Mokou shrugged. "Check and find out."

"How? There's no windows, and I am not opening the door to-" Body cut herself off, grimaced, and said, "Okay, no need to say anything. Fine." She stood up and pressed her hand against the mirror.

"Make sure it's one-way," Head advised. "We don't want something nasty peeking in."

"Like that would stop them," Body muttered, but she complied. The backs of the mirrors dissolved away, becoming windows.

The view outside was somewhat disappointing. From what Mokou could tell, they were falling gently through a thick, grey mist. Through it, no shapes could be discerned.

"Well, that's kind of useless," Body observed. "Not to mention dangerous. If something decided to come eat us, we wouldn't know until it started chewing."

"You're really not getting this whole 'godlike control' thing, are you?" Mokou asked.

"We're not in my imagination anymore, you tit," Body snapped. "I can control the elevator, and that's about it."

"Tell that to the fortress we're heading for," Mokou responded. "And…" Her brow furrowed. "Wait, did you just call me a tit?"

Over in her corner, Head rolled her eyes. "Out of all the awful things we've called you over the years, and that's the one you take offense to?"

"I'm not taking offense, I just think it's…uh…"

The rest of her thought trailed off. Something was moving in the mists. She could see light in the distance, faint at first but growing in strength. And in the light, shapes were moving.

"Crap," she bemoaned. She readied herself for violence. "It's happening already. All right, get ready for…Huh?"

The mists opened up, and Mokou found herself staring at, not Rumia or a bloodthirsty nightmare, but a dark-haired man with smiling eyes playing with a young girl in a sunlit garden. From the look of things, he was trying to show her how to fly.

Mokou sat down very suddenly.

"Huh," Body said, tilting her head to one side. "Wasn't expecting that. What is it?"

Mokou swallowed. Her mouth had gone dry, and she found speaking to be difficult. "I-it's me," she stammered.

"Who, the guy?" Head said in bewilderment. This earned her a smack from her twin.

Mokou was too numb too take offense. She just watched as her father shared with her six-year-old self the secret to flying.

"Miss the ground," she muttered. Then she let out a small laugh. "My gods, I still remember."

"So, that's you, huh?" Body observed. She watched the memory for a few moments before commenting, "Huh. You were a cute kid."

"And her dad doesn't seem so bad," Head remarked. "Hell, he's almost likeable here. Makes you wonder what happened."

"What happened?" Mokou repeated. She chuckled without humor. Her head lolled around so that she was smiling at the two Kaguyas. "Well, let me tell you…"

Almost as if on cue, the memory was again enveloped by mists, which then opened again, revealing the very memory Mokou had been about to discuss. Which made sense in a way. This was her subconscious, after all.

Again they were watching Mokou as a child, this time a few years older. However, the scene was not at all pleasant. Silently, the three of them watched as Mokou stumbled in on the ravaged body of her dying mother and had her questions brushed off by her distraught father.

"Well, that was kind of harsh," Body said as the young Mokou was dragged away from her mother's room. "How old were you?"

Mokou grimaced and stood up. "I dunno. Nine, I think."

"So, that's what turned your dad into a complete asshole?" Head asked. "Your mom dying? Seems kind of an overreaction of you-erk!"

Head had suddenly found her breath cut off as Mokou's forearm rammed into her windpipe and shoved her against the elevator wall.

"Whoa!" Body immediately leapt to her twin's defense. "Ease up, Pyrobitch! She was just asking!"

Though she didn't break her glare, Mokou allowed herself to be hauled away from Head, who started coughing. "That?" she said, yanking her arm away from Body's hands. "That alone? Oh no. Not by a long shot. Helplessly watching the love of his life wither and die was just the start."

The memory was replaced by another, this one similar to the last. This time, a preteen Mokou stood horrified with the remainder of her family as the parcel containing her brother's severed head was opened.

"This only happened a few years after," she said, crossing her arms. "Imagine, everything was going great. He was living the perfect life: head of a wealthy and respected family, had a beautiful wife that he loved dearly, three kids that were crazy about him, lah-dee-fucking-dah." She turned her head to lock eyes with the two identical figures of her hated enemy. "And then, in the space of about three years, half of his family, gone." She snapped her fingers. "Like that. Loses his wife to a disease he can't stop, and his oldest son is brutally murdered by his political rival, just to make a stupid point! Sort of thing tends to make a guy bitter, you know?"

She looked away. This whole trip had torn the scabs off of one old wound after another and ripped open scars. The encounter at the field of corpses in particular had ravaged her emotionally and spiritually. In a way all the blows she had taken had been beneficial, in that she could now relive these dark stains on her past without being reduced to a sobbing mess.

"Of course, that wasn't the end of it," she continued. The memory was still playing, showing her surviving brother talk her out of seeking revenge. "If it were, he might have healed, _we _might have gotten better. But the Sonozikas-"

"The Sonozikas?" Body interrupted, looking perplexed. "You mean those twits that run the Human Village?"

Mokou sighed. She swore she had told Kaguya about her family's disastrous rivalry with the Sonozikas half a dozen times by now. The Lunar Princess's attention span had always been lacking. "The same. They hated us, we hated them back. They're the ones that had my brother killed, and kept trying to bring us down after. My father became paranoid for our safety. We were rarely allowed to leave the estate, and then only with lots and lots of guards." Her lips twisted in a snarl. "Of course, in my case, it was only delaying the inevitable."

This pronouncement only got her blank stares. Body coughed into her hand and said, "Uh, what?"

"What, I never told you?" Mokou said, acid dripping from every word. "I was dying."

A beat went by, and then, _"WHAT?"_

The mists closed, but instead of opening to reveal a new memory, they thickened, grew dark, and started to swirl violently around the elevator. A faint rumbling like distant thunder shook the elevator.

"I was dying," Mokou said again, taking no notice of the change in climate. "Just really, really slowly. You know the disease that killed my mother? Yeah, it was hereditary. Only affected the women in my family though, passed along from mother to daughter. My mother was lucky she lived as long as she did. Me? I wasn't so tough. Everyone thought I'd be dead by twenty-one."

Mokou slammed the blunt of her fist into the elevator door. The suddenness made the Kaguya twins jump, and her fist left a small impression in the metal.

"As I grew older, I could feel it growing inside me," she said. "Eating away at my insides. Small of course, it always started small. And slow. But when it decided to go for the kill, you knew. My mother went from being simply delicate to falling to pieces in the space of a month."

Head looked like she was at a loss for words. She kept fidgeting uncomfortable and shooting pleading glances at her twin, as if begging her to say something for her. Body obliged.

"Wait," she said, her brow rising in realization. "So the reason your dad wanted to marry me was…"

"Half his family was dead," Mokou said flatly. "And he was due to lose his daughter in a few years. And with all the assassins the Sonozikas were sending after us, who was to say that my remaining brother would survive?" Her snarl increased in sharpness. "And then you came along. A bonafide Princess from the fucking Moon. Drop-dead gorgeous, had a miracle worker as your sidekick, and most of the province wrapped around your finger a month after your arrival. And oh yeah, completely and utterly unkillable."

"So _that _was what that was all about?" Body demanded. "Your dad started courting me because _I couldn't die?"_

"My idea, actually," Mokou said. She enjoyed the way the twins blanched at this new bit of information. "Yeah, and to think, you might have been my stepmother."

"Not bloody likely," Head hissed.

Mokou shrugged. "Yeah, I know. The game was rigged. Wish I knew it at the time, would have made everyone's lives a lot easier."

"And yours a lot shorter," Body pointed out.

Mokou acknowledged this with a nod. Behind her, the mists opened to show another Mokou, this one near the physical age she was now, bitterly confessing her disappointments to her brother. "Like I said, a hell of a lot easier." She sighed. "Anyway, he failed your stupid wild goose chase, like everyone else did, and I thought that was going to be the end of that." She snickered. "So imagine how I must have felt when I found out that the last bit of the same miracle drink that gave you your immortality was in transit to be dropped into a volcano."

Body growled. "Stupid son of a bitch of an emperor. He had the nerve to get all pissy when I wouldn't marry his seventy-year-old ass, and when we sent him the rest of the elixir, hoping to make amends, he throws a godsdamned hissy fit and tries to chuck it into a volcano, just to spite me!"

"No kidding," Head said with a roll of her eyes. "I mean, what kind of idiot throws away something like that, just to make a point? It wasn't like we needed it."

Mokou shrugged. "Maybe he didn't much care for the idea of being seventy years old for the rest of eternity."

"Then he should have looked us up! Eirin could have done something to fix that!"

"Did he know that? Besides, the guy's been dead and dust for over a thousand years. Get over it."

"Kind of hard to," Body seethed. "Seeing how the results of his idiocy have plagued us for the last three hundred plus years." She took a deep breath to calm herself. "But fine. So, that's the _real _reason you stole the elixir, huh? Didn't want the disease to kill you?" She shrugged. "Okay, fine. I guess I can respect that. But that doesn't explain-"

"No," Mokou said, her voice a low growl. "Not for me. Anyone but me. My father, if he would take it. My brother. My father's new wife, if I could persuade him to take one. Somebody. Just so he wouldn't have to be alone."

"Really," Head said, her voice a flat monotone. "Well. That plan went straight to Hell, didn't it?"

Mokou nodded. Across from her, the mists opened up, revealing a horrified Mokou staring at the still body of Iwakasa, who bled from wounds she herself had inflicted.

Like so many of the lives she had taken or ruined, this one had been completely unintentional. Even after all his men had been devoured by an unexpected mountain god, Iwakasa had still been determined to carry out his duty and destroy the Hourai Elixir. Obviously, Mokou had been dead set against that plan, and they had quarreled. Things had gotten confusing after that, and given the ordeals they had endured, neither of them were quite in their right minds. Not that changed anything; Iwakasa had still ended up dead and Mokou had fled the area, the elixir in hand. Mission accomplished.

What a shame that she had to then have her ankle twist out from under as she ran down the mountain. And how unfortunate that, as she had tumbled down the slope, she would become inflicted with a nasty head wound that had refused to stop bleeding. And how unlucky she had been in that the smell of blood had attracted the attention of a wild spider youkai, who had descended upon her in hopes of an easy meal. And wasn't it just tragic that she had _severely _underestimated the amount of elixir that the deceptively large bottle had contained, leading her to believe that even if she were to use it to save her life, enough would be left over to be presented to her father? And if only someone had told her exactly how the elixir worked, that the three panicked sips she had taken would complete the process, not only healing her body and burning away the disease she had received from her mother, but also binding her soul to her body forever.

The memory was playing out behind the Kaguya twins' backs, so they couldn't see it. This was for her and her alone. She stared at it with steely eyes until the mists closed again.

"Yes," she said. "All to Hell."

Body frowned. She leaned in a little closer, her eyes narrowed as she studied Mokou's face. "Your dad didn't exactly take it well when he found out, did he?"

Well, Kaguya may be a royal pain in the ass, and she may come up with some incredibly dumb ideas sometimes, but wasn't stupid. For one, she could read Mokou like a book. "No, he didn't," Mokou said. She sat down and folded her legs. "Not at all."

"Not surprising," Head said. She stood right behind her twin with her arms folded. "And while I'm tempted to just chalk it up to him being pissed that he didn't get to be immortal, it was a little more than that, wasn't it?"

Mokou smiled a sour smile. "Well, why don't I just show you?"

Directly above her head, a new scene started to play out. Mokou didn't need to see it to know what was happening. In it, her father, now looking and acting closer to the angry, almost cruel man that had been tormenting as of late, was marching through the Fujiwara manor and dragging Mokou by the hair, which, once nut brown, was now almost bleached white, a side-effect of the elixir being consumed by a "lesser being." Mokou was screaming and pleading with her father, begging him to forgive her.

"_No, please!"_ her tiny voice cried, audible even through the glass. _"I'm sorry! Please, Father!"_

Fujiwara no Fuhito didn't seem to even hear her. His eyes were burning with an anger so intense that it looked like madness. Maybe it was.

"_Wait!"_ she said, trying to pull back. _"I did it for you! I swear, it was meant for you! I never meant-"_

That finally got his attention. He stopped his stalwart march toward the front gate and turned to glower hatefully at his sobbing daughter, whose hair was still clenched in his hand.

"_For me?"_ he growled. _"You did this for me?"_

Then he struck her: a savage backhand across her face that stunned her into silence. She gaped up at him, moist eyes wide with shock.

"_You stupid, stupid girl!"_ he all but roared at her. _"You think I _wanted_ this?"_

With that, he hauled her out to the front gates and shoved them open. From there, he threw his daughter out like a bag of trash.

As she lay weeping in the dirt, Fuhito loomed over her. The sun was at his back, turning him into a menacing shadow, full of rage.

"_For the love I once held for you, I am letting you go,"_ he said at last. _"You were my daughter, the light of my eyes, and that must be acknowledged. But now…" _His fists clenched, and raw power crackled over his knuckles. _"Now you are not. You've become like _her!"With that, he turned and stormed back through the gate, though not before leaving her with one last parting shot. _"Never return."_

And the gates slammed shut.

In Mokou's mind, the sound of them was much louder, much more resonant that they were now, though the glass probably had something to do with that. She sat and watched as the Kaguya twins stared with expressionless faces as their mortal enemy was thrown out by her own father.

Mokou waited for one of them to say something.

Finally, one of them did. "Well," Head said, her face still blank. "That was kind of horrible."

"Yes, it was," Mokou said, her mouth still lifted in that acrid smile.

"He was really that pissed about not winning?" Body asked. "That he flipped out about anything that resembled me?"

Mokou shrugged. "What can I say, Kaguya? You have a way of making people hate you."

The twins exchanged a look, but neither of them raised the bait. Mokou watched their faces as carefully as they had watched hers. Though they both wore blank masks, she could still see something stirring in their eyes, something she was not accustomed to seeing from Kaguya.

Empathy.

Well now, wasn't that something?

However, the trip down memory lane wasn't done yet. Above her head, nineteen-year-old Mokou was still crying as she half-ran, half-stumbled away from her former home. Once again, something caught her foot and she fell. And once again, it ended with a very important encounter, one that would change her life forever.

As the mists replayed her conversation with the witch-woman, Head wrinkled her nose. "Hold up," she said. "That woman. Something about her rings a bell."

Mokou's eyebrows rose. "Wow, you actually recognize her? I'm impressed."

"Who is she?" Body asked. "She does seem familiar."

"Oh, no one all that important," Mokou said. "You know her as Madam Mima."

Both Head and Body made choking sounds of surprise. "M-M-Mima?" Head gasped. "You mean that freaky ghost that's always hanging around Hakurei Shrine?"

"Yeah, and didn't she get declared Hakurei Shrine's representative or something?" Body asked, turning to her twin. "Around the same time we were made all official? What was that dumb name they had for it?"

"Ringleader?"

"Yeah, that's it." Body looked again at the memory and shook her head. "So, that's her, huh? She gets around."

"That's her," Mokou confirmed. "Back when she was still Human, over a thousand years ago." She snickered. "We actually ran into each other soon after I entered Gensokyo."

"Really now. Did she remember you?"

Mokou nodded. "Yeah. She congratulated me on a job well done and complimented me on having absorbed a Phoenix. And then she did me a favor."

"Yeah? And what's that?"

Mokou showed her teeth. "She pointed me in your direction."

Any sympathy Head and Body might have been projecting died right there and then. Replacing it was an aura of cold. "Oh, did she," Head said frostily.

"Yeah. Said she owed me one for taking out the trash."

"That so." Head glanced at Body. "You know, I'm thinking we'll have to make a little visit to Hakurei Shrine once all this is over."

"Oh, I agree," Body nodded. An angry scowl twisted her face. "Though I can't help but wonder how she knew we were there at all."

Mokou leaned back against the wall and stretched her legs out. "You really don't know a whole lot about Madam Mima, do you?"

Head blinked. "Not really. Why?"

"Heh. You ever hear of the Magician's War?"

"Yeah. Who hasn't?"

Mokou's dead smile took on a little life, becoming more of a smirk. "Well, that was her."

"Huh? Which part?"

"The whole thing."

"Oh." Head looked troubled. "You know what, maybe we'd better just let that one slide."

Through the window, the memory continued to play out, as the witch-woman Madam Mima consoled the distraught Mokou on the one of the most appealing advantages immortality brought. Specifically, vengeance.

"And so it begins," Head said as Mokou rushed off to bring a cup of Shiva to the men who had decapitated her brother.

"Pretty much, yes," Mokou said, allowing the memory to fade away. She didn't need it anymore. "First those mercenaries, and then I paid a visit to Sonozika himself."

Body put her hands on her hips. "You didn't do a very good job of it then, seeing how his descendants are pretty much running the Human Village now."

Mokou shook her head. "They're descended from his youngest son, who was like three at the time. Think what you want about me, but I wasn't about to assassinate an infant."

"No, just murder his entire family."

"Nah. Just his father and three oldest brothers," Mokou said with a wry smile. "The ones actually involved in the feud. But even so, I never claimed to be a saint."

This earned her scowls from the Kaguya twins. "And to think, I was starting to feel sorry for you," Body said with a shake of her head.

"I dunno," Head put in. "If anything, I kind of pity her more." She motioned toward Mokou. "I mean, look at her. Mima probably did more damage to her than we ever did."

Mokou's smile disappeared. "What?"

"Let's face it, Mokou. You may have gotten your vengeance, killed everyone who hurt you or your family, but so what? You killed a lot of people that would have been long dead anyway, caused a lot of pain, and…" Head blinked. "And come to think of it, that's what happened to that one coast town, isn't it? Kama…Karma…Kamehame…"

"Kamakura," Mokou said, her eyes narrowed.

"Right! You went after those pirates, and things got out of hand, didn't they? Probably some stray fireball hit a pile of wood, and before you knew it, the whole city was alight!"

Mokou said nothing. She just glowered.

"Yeah, I thought so," Head said. "But you kept going. Went after Sonozika and paid him and his sons back. And since you were probably feeling so guilty for losing control at Kamakura, you stopped with that. Told yourself that you weren't so bad, that Kamakura was a one-time thing, just a bad accident. But what then, Mokou? What happened after you had your vengeance, huh?"

Now Mokou was on her feet. Her eyes were glowing, and the air around her shimmered with heat. Noticing this, Body gulped and leaned in to whisper into her twin's ear. "Uh, maybe you should ease up a bit. The elevator's kind of small, so if she goes full inferno on us-"

"Shut up, I don't care," Head snapped. "We're long overdue to have this conversation anyway."

"Oh, are we?" Mokou said with a sneer.

"Damn right, we are!" Head thrust a finger at her smoldering rival. "You couldn't handle it! You couldn't handle being immortal! You had no family to go back to, no real home, and you got all your revenging done the first day. So after that, what was left? You weren't about to strike vengeance against you dad, so you had no drive, no purpose, no reason to keep on living. But you didn't have much choice in the matter, did you? You had to just keep on existing, unable to move on, unable to start something new. Must have tried to off yourself a hundred different ways, huh? Each one more thorough than the last. Except none of them worked, and you just got more and more scared."

"Keep talking, Houraisan. See what happens."

Head did just that. "So when you finally wound up in Gensokyo and Mima told you that the princess who rejected your dad in the first place was still kicking around, you must have been so happy. Because now you had someone to take revenge on again! And again, and again, and again. But for what, Mokou? Because I was _there? _Because it was _my _elixir that you stole?" Now Head's eyes were starting to glow with power of her own. "Or was it because of what your dad said, about you becoming like me? He saw me in you, and rejected you for it! So you saw me as something as something evil and hateful to be destroyed, didn't you?"

Mokou let out an audible growl.

"Ha! I'm right, aren't I?" Head said triumphantly. "I'm not the one with self-loathing issues, you are! You've hated yourself for centuries, tried to destroy yourself over and over, and when you couldn't, you focused that anger on me, like some-"

Mokou thrust her hand out, palm first. It hit Head in the center of her chest and white-hot fires swept over her body, cooking her down to the bone in seconds. Head's roasted skeleton dropped to the floor, surrounded by the ash of her flesh and clothing.

Breathing heavily, Mokou stepped back from the ruin she had caused. Her body trembled. "You have something to add?" she said to Body, who was staring at her twin's remains with an expression of horror. "Maybe some whining about the truce?"

Body's eyes flickered up to Mokou. The remaining Kaguya had suffered first degree burns and was sweating from the heat, but was otherwise all right. "Not at all," she said.

"Good to hear." Mokou returned to her corner and sat back down. She leaned back, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. Ugh, it smelled like cooked Kaguya. Normally that would be a scent to savor, but inside of a cooped box it was a bit overpowering.

Then Body said, "But she is right, you know."

Mokou slowly raised her eyelids, but otherwise she didn't move. "What ever happened to 'Not at all'?"

"Changed my mind."

Mokou shrugged. "Okay." She held up her hand and ignited a ball of flame over her palm.

"Oh, so scary," Body sneered. "Crispify me if you want, it wouldn't be the first time. Or thousandth. But it won't change the facts."

"That right?" Mokou didn't move to attack, but she didn't snuff out the fireball either. "And what facts might that be?"

"You heard them already. From her." Body pointed to the pile of bones and ash, which was just starting to stir. "Your feud with me was never really about me, not originally. You didn't hate me, you just hated what I represented. I'm like your twisted reflection…or you're mine. Whatever. Point is, you can lie to yourself about how I've wronged you all you want, but truth is, before we met, I never did a thing to you."

Mokou gritted her teeth. "Bullshit."

"I didn't! I never even knew you existed! You did it all yourself! Except you can't accept that, so you make up stupid, asinine excuses about how I screwed you over, screwed your dad over-"

"You sent him on a wild goose chase!"

"Yeah, I did!" Body shouted at her. "But newflash, Mokou: I sent _everyone _on a wild goose chase, and you damn well know the reason why!"

Sighing, Mokou closed her hand, extinguishing the fire. "Yeah. Lesbian."

"Oh sure, that's _part _of it, but even if I wasn't…" Body hunched down in her own corner. Hands curled into tights fists and face contorted with anger. "They just wouldn't leave me _alone! _I had just been exiled, didn't really want to get involved with the locals-"

"You mean the primitive, backwater savages," Mokou corrected.

"I…fine. Yes, I mean all you filthy monkey people. But give me a break, I'm a _Lunarian. _You know the sort of stuff I grew up with."

Mokou shrugged. "Fine, whatever. So you wanted to make the drooling natives piss off, so you made up some pointless game to make them chase their tails in circles. Probably got a few laughs out of it, too."

Body rolled her eyes. "And again with the…augh. Looks like I'm going to have to do with after all."

"Do what?" Mokou said, frowning.

"Start from the beginning. It's the only way we'll get anywhere."

Mokou rolled her eyes. "Oh what, now I got to hear your life story too? Don't bother, I already know it. One day, little Princess Kaguya got sick and tired of not being important, so she and her best buddy in the whole wide world decided they could change that by making her live forever. It didn't work, and they got kicked down to Earth. Things got weird, and then she met me. The end."

Cold fury sprung up in Body's eyes. Mokou found herself taken by surprise by how hateful they looked. This wasn't the usual vengeful rage or spiteful annoyance Kaguya usually directed her way. This time, she had truly offended her rival, on a personal level.

Despite this, Body's voice was low and controlled, if still dangerous. "Don't you dare belittle it," she said. "And seeing how you just made me sit through your life story, you owe it to me to sit through mine."

Mokou quirked an eyebrow. Then she glanced toward the squirming lump of charred flesh and pointed a finger at it. A spear of flame shot out, interrupting Head's resurrection attempts and sending her back to square one.

"All right," she said to Body. "Fine. Talk."

Body looked like she was about to protest this latest violation of the truce, but she thought better of it. "Well, you're right about one thing. I wasn't important. At all. Sure, I lived the life of luxury, but that didn't change the fact that I had no real power, no real say over my life. Sure, the servants did whatever I wanted and people bowed down when they saw me, called me 'Highness' and 'Princess' and whatnot, but it was my father they were respecting, not me. I was little better than a nobody. Everything I did was carefully monitored and controlled, and the gods forbid I pursue any interests of my own."

Just as they had for Mokou, the mists provided a visual backdrop for Body's story, though in her case the mists didn't part. Instead, Mokou saw shapes and silhouettes moving through the thick clouds, showing a young child that she presumed to be Kaguya being told off by someone that was obviously Eirin Yagokoro. This was followed by young Kaguya getting told off by some sort of military officer, by someone she presumed was an older sibling, by a lady dressed like a noble, by a man dressed like clown (or so it looked like to Mokou. It was probably just some stupid fashion favored by the upper crust of Lunarian society a thousand years ago), and so on, until the images of Kaguya being lectured started to overlap. Clearly she had been quite the handful when she was a child.

"Yeah, I know," Mokou said, shrugging. "Which got your panties into a twist and made you want to throw a coup by becoming immortal." She frowned. "You know, I never really got how that was supposed to work."

"Like I said, don't belittle it. Do you have any idea what a princess actually is?" Body shook her head and chuckled. "A genetic party favor, to be married off to one of my father's noble buddies and pop out babies for him until the equipment stops working. Not exactly a fate I was especially looking forward to."

Mokou nodded. "Because lesbian."

"Yeah, there's definitely that. Plus, you know, the whole not having a say in it, being treated like a piece of property, having to watch my step for the rest of my very long life for fear of disgracing my husband and my family (and let me tell you, the list of things that might cause _that _happen is _looooooong_)." Body shuddered with revulsion. "And then there's the problem that Duke Hoshimaru was an absolutely slimy son of a bitch."

That made Mokou blink. Now this part she was unfamiliar with. "Wait, who?"

"My betrothed." Body's smile dripped with acid. "Didn't know about that part, did you?"

Mokou hadn't, though upon reflection, she supposed that it made sense. Kaguya had been of age after all.

A figure came into view above Body's head. It was that man that looked like a clown. While still shrouded by the mists, this time his features were distinct enough for Mokou to make out a tall, rakish body with long, spindly hands, and a gaunt face with fat lips and leering eyes. His hair was long, white, and tied into a ponytail. If ever there was someone who could be described as a fop, it would be this guy. Definitely unpleasant looking, though Mokou wondered how much of that was actually accurate and how much was twisted in Kaguya's memories.

"That's the guy, huh?" Mokou asked, motioning toward him. "Well, he's ugly, I'll give you that."

Body glanced up and grimaced. "Yeah, that's him all right. Gods, I hated him. I mean, look at him! It's like he can't even look at you without undressing you with his eyes. When they told me I had to marry the bastard, I was tempted to take a walk through the top tower window right there and then." Shivering, she looked away, and Hoshimaru's form faded. "But you know the worst of it? Everybody seemed to know that I was going to marry that guy _except _for me. They didn't even bother telling me until I turned sixteen. I mean, come on! All those years, and no one would so much as drop a hint. I must've complained about him to my siblings a hundred different times." Her eyes turned dark. "They were probably laughing themselves sick the whole time."

As she processed this, Mokou was struck by a troubling thought. "Wait, years? How long were you promised to him?"

Kaguya's slim hands curled into tight fists, and her forearms started to tremble. "Since before I could walk."

Mokou stared. "You're serious."

"Dead serious. He was one of the ranking nobility. Not the oldest family or the most prestigious, but filthy rich, and marrying into the Houraisans was going to be his stepping stone to royalty." Kaguya let out a disgusted growl. "Guy was already older than my father when I was born. Can you imagine what that must have been like? Like, he gets a call, and it's my dad." Kaguya started speaking in an exaggeratedly deeper voice. "'Hey bro, you know that trophy wife I promised you? Well, she just arrived!'" Then she changed to a higher, more prissy tone. "'Oh, how marvelous! And just in time for my birthday!'" Deeper again. "'Uh, you're gonna have to wait a bit before you unwrap your gift, dude. She's still a newborn. Wouldn't look right.'" Higher. "'Oh poo. I hate waiting. How long would be acceptable?'" Deeper. "'Not long, man. Just until the grass has grown. Otherwise people will freak.'" Higher. "'Oh, I suppose I can hold off for a few years. The wait will just make it all the sweeter. Ooooh, I'm getting giddy just thinking about it!'" Body turned her head and spat. "Two of a kind," she said in her normal voice. "I am well quit of them."

Mokou was aghast. It was true, she had spent the last three hundred years hating Kaguya and making her life a world of pain, but nothing roused her wrath like the mistreatment of a child, even if that child was Kaguya. "And Eirin never had anything to say until then?" she asked. "I thought she was like your personal tutor or something!"

"Oh, she had _plenty _to say, I just never heard any of it." Body snickered. "See, she and Father never really got along. Had something to do with an argument with my grandfather that carried over to him. Anyway, she was his most vocal critic, and one of the few people that could get away with it. Problem was, he was the King, and she was Eirin motherfucking Yagokoro. Neither of them could get rid of each other, so instead they just tolerated each other."

Mokou saw where this was going. "And she figured if the current ruler wouldn't listen, she would instead try to shape the next?" she guessed. "Except your father figured out what she was up to, and foisted her off onto his least important child?"

"Hey, give the Pyrobitch credit, she can see what's in front of her eyes." Despite the joviality of her words, Body's face was completely humorless. Her mouth was set in a straight line, the side of which kept twitching. Her eyes were unfocused and faraway as she plunged through centuries-old memories. "But hey, she did it. I mean, he was still the king and all, so she sucked it up and did her duty. I guess she figured being able to tutor at least _one _member of the royal family was better than nothing, right?" Her eyes darted to Mokou. "And I swear to all the gods, make one joke about her screwing up in epic fashion, and I will hurt you."

"The thought never crossed my mind," Mokou said solemnly. Then she incinerated Head's regenerating form. Again.

Body sighed and shook ash out of her hair and wiped it from her face. "Why do you keep doing that?"

"Because she'll be all pissed off and you'd never get anywhere. I'll let her get up after you're done."

"I guess," Body said reluctantly. "But anyway, you can probably figure out what happened next. She tutored me, she taught me, she practically raised me. Tried to make sure I grew up properly, and I did everything I could to not grow up." She smirked. "It's possible that I may have had authority figure issues."

"What made her change her mind?" Mokou asked.

"Wasn't easy, and it took a while. But it helped that she was already ticked off at Father, and thought that Hoshimaru was an insufferable pervert." Body shrugged. "I think that finding out that I was into girls helped. Plus, she was the only adult who was ever nice to me…I mean genuinely nice to me, not all that fake-ass groveling everyone else would do. So she was the only person I actually respected." She sighed. "Anyway, after one of those incredibly boring state dinners, I complained to her about how Hoshimaru kept creepering on me. I think that's what broke her down, and she told me about the marriage contract."

"Didn't take it well, did you?" Mokou said, nodding.

"Oh, whatever gave you that idea?" Body said wryly. Her brows rose and she meaningfully tilted her head toward the windows.

Again, the scene within was cloudy and indistinct, but Mokou could make out several images of Kaguya having what could only be described as a full emotional breakdown. Each of the hazy Kaguyas was lashing out indiscriminately: smashing unidentifiable objects, slamming themselves against the wall, and pounding their fists against the floor. Here and there she could pick out Eirin's form as the Lunarian doctor tried to get the berserking girl under control. Over it all, overlapping screams and cries rose up.

"_NO! Not him! Why him?"_

"_Why didn't anyone tell me? Why didn't you tell me? Why did you lie?"_

"_I can't! I won't!"_

"_I won't do it! I'll kill myself, I swear I will!"_

All in all, it was quite the impressive temper tantrum. Mokou supposed that, all things considered, she really couldn't blame her, even if her immediate impulse was to reach through the glass and given the spoiled princess a hard smack and tell her to grow up and act her age. How had Kaguya been supposed to react after being told such things? To learn that she was not only doomed to marry against her orientation, something that she must have been dreading for years, but that it was to be with someone that she despised? Given the circumstances, Mokou had to admit that Kaguya's reaction might be entirely justified, and…and when in the _hell _had she start thinking up justifications for Kaguya's emotional outbursts? Mokou shook her head. This was just another in a long list of unwanted surprises this nightmare had subjected her to.

The images kept swirling faster and faster, and Kaguya's layered voice got louder and more indecipherable, until the dizzying blur finally condensed together to form one single image: that of Kaguya fallen on her knees, sobbing as Eirin held her tight.

"_I can't do it," _she said from across an expanse of centuries. _"Please don't make me do it."_

As the image faded away, Mokou asked, "So, that's what did it then?"

"Yes," Body said. Her voice was hoarse and raw, probably from the emotional fallout of such a poignant memory. "That's what did it."

Body fell silent for a time, and Mokou didn't prod her. Instead, she took the opportunity to muse over what she had just learned. She had known about how Kaguya had resented being the least of the house and how everyone overlooked her in favor of her older siblings, but the bit about her ex-fiancé put a whole different spin on things. Mokou thought of all the stories she knew of princesses who had ran away to avoid being married off to someone unpleasant. There were a great many, but they all seemed to be built around the moral of how one should only marry their true love and not have that decision made for them. Kaguya's case was a bit different, and given that her refusal had eventually resulted in her exile from her home to a world of rough strangers…

Mokou thought of her insistence that her father should try to win the princess's hand and her stomach turned sour.

Then Body cleared her throat. "Anyway, you probably know this next part. We started planning on how we would remove Father from power and usurp my brother, and since my natural gift was all about preserving things indefinitely, Eirin figured she could use that to create the Elixir of Immortality. Obviously it worked." Above, Kaguya's form picked up some kind of vial and drank from it three times, ensuring her eternal existence.

Mokou frowned. "Yeah, you never told me how turning immortal was supposed to make you Queen."

"Well, not that by itself," Body admitted. "That was partially to guard against assassins, as well as give me something unique and incredible that my siblings couldn't match. Eirin was going to do a lot of behind the scenes maneuvering and arrange for Father to suffer a series of mishaps that would leave him in disgrace and my brother unable to take his place." When Mokou gave her a look, she quickly clarified: "I don't mean hurt him, just make sure public opinion and the support of the nobility was against him and behind me. It was all very clever." Body's shoulders lifted and fell in a sigh. "Unfortunately, it never got past the planning stage before I got caught."

"How?"

"My fault. I made the mistake of getting cocky and telling my favorite maid. She had served me since I was a little girl, and I figured if anyone would be on my side, it would be her." Body's lip curled. "Unfortunately, it turned out that she had been serving someone else quite a bit longer."

"Your father?" Mokou guessed. Well, that was to be expected, as everyone in the Houraisan household would be serving him. But she wouldn't put it above the old bastard to have place a couple of watching eyes in his daughter's personal retinue.

But Body shook her head. "No. My scumbag of a fiancé, actually."

Mokou blanched. "You're kidding me."

"I wish."

"But is that…allowed? I mean, fiancé or no, you were still a freaking princess!"

Body shrugged. "What can I say? Knowledge is power, and everyone always made sure to have as many eyes in place as possible. Plus, in this case his informant got to double as a peeping tom."

Mokou made a face. "Okay, just for the record, I still really don't like you, but that's all kinds of fucked up."

"Preaching to the choir, Pyrobitch," Body sighed. "Anyway, she ran off to tell him, and he immediately went and tattled to my dad. From what I hear, he tried to use it to push the wedding into happening right there and then instead of waiting longer."

"Must have been thrilled to learn you weren't going to get any older," Mokou remarked.

"Oh, he was. Unfortunately for him, things didn't turn out quite the way he envisioned." Body's smile became unmistakably bloodthirsty. "See, daddy dearest took it a bit more seriously than Hoshimaru had expected. Apparently me becoming immortal was more of a problem than plotting a coup. Something to do with my rejection of death meaning that I was forever corrupted by it, screwing up my purity."

Mokou blinked. "Uh…"

"I know what you're thinking, and no, I don't mean that kind of purity. I mean the kind my former people are so obsessed about. You know, the Shinto kind."

"Oh," Mokou said, feeling a little dumb for not realizing that right away. "Of course."

"Right. Well, that was the reason they gave anyway. You ask me, Father was just upset that Eirin gave the elixir to me and not him. Plus, my power being the necessary ingredient to make the thing work must have chafed." Kaguya chuckled. "Anyway, you pretty much know what happened next. I was dragged in disgrace before the Lunarian High Court, proclaimed a traitor by my own father, which I'll freely admit I actually was, and given the boot."

Predictably, Body's words were accompanied by a visual aide, this one of Kaguya with her head encased in some kind of all-concealing metal helmet. This image was far more distinct than the ones that had preceded it. Kaguya had never been one to dwell on the past, but this event likely stood out in her memory. In contrast, the Lunarian Court was represented by vague, shadowy figures that surrounded her on all sides and from above, glowering down at her with pale, luminescent eyes. The fact that Kaguya had been blinded by the helmet probably had something to do with that.

"What about Eirin?" Mokou asked. "I don't see her there. Why wasn't she there?"

Body stared at her. "Oh gee, Mokou. Maybe it had something to do with her _planning a coup _with me? Kings kind of frown on that sort of thing, and usually don't let people who do it participate in the criminal trials of their co-conspirators."

"No, you idiot! I mean why wasn't she being judged with you?" Mokou gestured to Kaguya as she was sentenced. "I mean, she didn't show up on Earth until after, right? How'd she get out of being exiled?"

"Oh, that." Body shrugged. "Well, that's no biggie. I was nobody, so Father could write me off without much problem. But Eirin was one of the founders of our entire freaking civilization, and the only one still active. Kind of makes you a pariah, not to mention ridiculously difficult to get rid of. The only way Father could save face was declare that I had deceived her and he was saving her from my evil ambitions."

Mokou frowned. "So, you got kicked out, and she just got off with a slap on the wrist?" She pondered this for a moment, and then shrugged. "Eh, I can see that. Be keeping with how most of the courts I've seen operate."

"Well, no, I mean she still had to step down from her seat on the Senate," Body admitted. "Plus, she lost Deanship of the Lunarian Science University and all that."

"Like I said. Slap on the wrist."

The look Body gave her indicated that they were in disagreement concerning the severity of Eirin's punishment. "You know, I don't think you're fully grasping what it means for someone like Eirin to lose-"

"She was plotting a freaking coup," Mokou snapped. "I don't care how much you idolize her, that's the sort of thing that will get most people beheaded and their children disinherited. She got off light." Mokou glanced at Head, saw that she was in danger regaining consciousness within the minute, and heatedly delayed her resurrection. As she did so, she said, "What about Hoshimaru? What happened to him?"

That made Body grin. "Oh, that turned out just find. You know who Watatsuki no Yorihime is, right?"

Mokou did, actually. "Yeah, your former rival, right?"

"Mmmm-hmmm. Well, that's what happened. He ended up marrying her instead."

Mokou's eyebrows shot up. "Did he!"

"Yup. And before you ask, yes, it was to get back at me." Kaguya snickered. "I guess he figured it would make me jealous for some stupid reason. They even sent me a wedding announcement and everything."

"But it didn't work I take it?"

"Nope," Kaguya said, shaking her head. "I was thrilled, actually. Couldn't have happened to a finer pair of assholes. I would have even sent them a present if it was allowed. And they went on to make each other miserable ever after. So, there was that at least."

"Gotta take your silver linings where you can find them," Mokou agreed. But then she frowned. "But hey, by the way. As interesting as all that was, you still haven't explained what the point of this guided tour down memory lane is supposed to mean."

Body goggled. "Wait, seriously? You don't…she doesn't get. I don't believe it, she still doesn't get it."

"Get what? Like I said, it's not like you're telling me much that I already didn't know. The bit about your fiancée was the only thing that's really new. Hell, now that he's out of the picture, I can probably finish the story for you." She held up her right hand and starting ticking points off on her fingers. "You landed on Earth and hid out in the woods for, mmmm, eighty years or so? Then Eirin went to the Lunarian High Court and convinced them to overturn your exile. She led a delegation of emissaries to look for you, only to betray and murder them once they'd found you. The two of you moved to Japan, tried to blend in, only to run one hell of a scam on the locals that ruined a whole lot of lives, mine included." She locked eyes with Body. "Did I miss anything?"

"Why, as a matter of fact, you did," Body said, unperturbed. "Or did the whole point of this guided tour down memory lane fly over your head?"

Before Mokou could snark back, Body was on her feet and practically screaming into Mokou's face. "Don't you _get it, _you odepial simian? I tried to overthrow my father, the freaking _emperor _of the Lunarian people, just to get out of becoming some slimy asshole's trophy wife, and that was only after I was talked out of killing myself!"

Body jabbed her finger against the stunned Mokou's chest. "As soon as word got out what I was, everyone and their dog was lining up to take Hoshimaru's place. I turned out proposal after proposal, many of them repeats from idiots that don't know the meaning of the word 'no.' And then they started getting more and more insistent, and we realized that sooner or later someone was going to press the issue and force me to become his bride. And then what, Mokou? Play nice until he dies, only for his brother or the some other noble to claim me in his stead? Get tossed around like a hot potato, racking up the husbands and fill the world with my offspring?" She spat on the floor. "Yeah, I conned you. I conned your dad, I conned everyone! I had to! If they had just left me alone, I wouldn't have needed to, but they didn't! I am _no one's _prize, Fujiwara no Mokou. Not Hoshimaru's, not the emperor's, and most certainly not your fucking father's!"

Body stormed back to her corner and plopped back down. "And hey, if it makes you feel any better, I am sorry for what your dad did to you, I really am. No kid should be treated like that, I should know. _But it wasn't my fault! _You had _no idea _what kind of person I was, what I was like, or what I had gone through. You just saw me as a way to make daddy happy. Well, that's all fine and dandy, Mokou. But did you ever consider that I might _not _want to marry your dad? That the impossible tasks were exactly that? Impossible? That there was a damned good reason why I had made winning me so incredibly difficult?"

Mokou had to admit, Body's outburst had taken her off guard, and she had to struggle to find her voice. "I-er-uh…I just thought that it was a way to find who was the most worthy. Or something."

"Well, it wasn't," Body snapped. "But you didn't stop to consider that, did you? No, you just saw me the same way everyone saw me. As an _opportunity. _A prize to be won and shown off, never caring about what I wanted, about who I was-"

"Yeah, and I find _that _out pretty quick, didn't I?" Mokou said crossly. "Maybe I lucked out. Maybe this is preferable to having you as a stepmother."

There was a short pause, and then Body chuckled. "Oh, this oughta be rich. Okay Mokou, give me your best shot. What kind of person am I?"

Without hesitation, Mokou answered, "A spoiled, stuck-up, self-centered, egotistical, narcissistic brat who isn't happy unless the world and everything in it revolves around your every selfish whim and desire."

Body rolled her eyes. "I can't remember the last time I've heard so many synonyms strung together at once."

"Doesn't make it any less true."

"I…" Body sighed. "You know what? All right. Maybe you're right. Maybe I am a selfish bitch. Fine." Then, her eyes burning with fury, Body shouted out, "Then hate me for that! Stop hating me because I wasn't what you wanted me to be, stop hating me because daddy said you should, and stop hating me for some imagined slight against your family that happened a _thousand fucking years ago_!"

"Are you serious?"

"Dead serious. I'd rather be hated for _who_ I am than desired for _what_ I am. I've had _quite _enough of that, thank you very much!"

Troubled, Mokou pondered on this. She had rarely seen Kaguya get this passionate about…well, anything. Angry, yes. Oftentimes livid, regularly vengeful, but not passionate. And as much as the very thought horrified her, she had to admit that she was not unmoved. It was nauseating, and she was disgusted with herself for admitting it, but given what Kaguya had been running from only to run into more of the same, it was difficult to fully fault her for trying to defend herself.

Then she remembered what her father's shade had asked her, back at the dead field. _"Why do you hate Kaguya?" _he had said. And now, she found herself seriously considering the question for the first time in a long, long while. Was it truly because Kaguya had been responsible for the Hourai Elixir entering into her life? Was it really because of her father's rejection? Was Kaguya right? Did Mokou hate her for simply _being _something, representing something that Mokou loathed, something that she saw within herself? Or was it Kaguya herself she hated?

Originally, the former would have been true. Before Mokou's initial attack, they had never met face-to-face, so Mokou had no idea what sort of person her hated nemesis was. However, she had found out rather quickly, which probably a long way to motivating Mokou to keep up the feud. Had Kaguya actually been a decent person, someone truly underserving of Mokou's hatred, would things have turned out differently? Would Mokou have been shamed into abandoning her vengeance?

Probably not. Mokou was very, very old. The old are often set in their ways, and she had wanted to see Kaguya burn, deserving or not.

But now, after three straight centuries of making Kaguya burn, bleed, break, and bruise, why was she still doing it? She had already gotten her revenge a thousand times over. Was it mere habit? Was it because vengeance was all she had left, and there was no one else for her to take it upon? Or did she truly believe, deep down, that Kaguya was someone who deserved everything Mokou did to her? Mokou wasn't sure. It honestly wasn't something she had ever given much thought to, and having to do so now bothered her.

Though come to think of it, there was something additional she hated Kaguya for, something connected to her family troubles but still deeply personal. But the damnedest thing was, she couldn't remember was it was. The feelings of resentment and hatred were still there, and had been for three hundred plus years, but the exact specifics of the insult were…

"_Oh, cry me a river!"_

Oh, right. That was it.

Body looked up in confusion. She looked around and frowned. "What was that?" she asked.

"You heard that?" Mokou asked.

"Yeah, it came from out there," Body said, motioning to the misty exterior. "It sounded like me. Another memory?"

"Oh, no doubt. But getting back to your 'hate me for who I am' lament, you're a little behind the times." Grinning wolfishly, Mokou leaned over her knees. "See, I already do."

"Do?"

"Yeah. Hate you for who you are. I came for the what and stayed for the who."

"Oh, did you?" Body rolled her eyes. "Well, jolly good for you. But, uh, Mokou? I really don't have a monopoly on the whole selfish bitch thing. There are millions of them. You gonna go out and kill all of them too?"

Mokou chuckled. "All of them? Not even I have time for that, but that's not what I mean. See, this isn't the first time you've been regaled with the story of my life?"

"No?"

"No. I mean, I have told you most of it, in bits and pieces, at one time or another. And I've told you the whole thing at least one other time."

Body raised an eyebrow. "Really now?" She shrugged. "Can't say I remember."

"Not at all surprised. It was…" Mokou thought for a moment. "Mmmm, I'd say a week or two after our first meeting. You had just beaten me down and broke my legs. Then you demanded to know why I was after you." She smirked. "So I told you."

"You did?" Body blinked. "Like, the whole thing?"

"The whole thing," Mokou confirmed. "Well, minus the part about Mima. Didn't seem important. But other than that, yeah."

"Oh." Now Body looked a bit troubled. "And, uh, what was my response?"

"You heard it already." Mokou leaned back and let her gaze drift up to the clouds. Again they had opened up, showing Kaguya and Mokou, circa three hundred years ago. Mokou was lying in a broken and bloody heap, one eye plucked out and the other narrowed in hate. Kaguya was also in bad shape, but she was at least standing. From the look of things, Mokou had just gotten done talking.

"_Oh, is that it?" _Kaguya demanded. _"Well, cry me a river, weigh yourself down with your sorrows, and drown yourself in it!"_

The clouds closed up. Mokou waited for Body's response.

As for her, Body at least had the good graces to look ashamed. She winced, cleared her throat, and said, "Well, okay. So that was…harsh."

Mokou raised an eyebrow. She said nothing.

"Still, come on Mokou. You were some crazy lady who had jumped me out of nowhere, murdered me repeatedly, and were probably blabbing something about your dad the whole time. How was I supposed to react? Apologize to the lunatic who had burned me alive? Give me a break!" Body sighed and stood up, muttering, "Besides, you didn't have visual aids that time. Kind of takes away from the impact."

"So what, you're saying that because you actually got to see what happened, you, uh, pity me or something? Is that what you're saying, Kaguya?"

"No, I…" Shaking her head, Body put her hands on her hips. "Look, I already admitted that what happened to you sucked, okay? And yeah, me saying that probably didn't help. But sun, moon, and stars, Mokou! It's been three hundred years since I said that, and a thousand years since your freaking dad kicked you out!"

"And yet," Mokou said without tone, "you're just as much of a selfish brat as you ever were."

"Whereas _you _are a sadistic, malicious, hateful, murder machine that lives for nothing but death, death, death!" Body shot back. "Give me some credit, at least I have a _life _outside of fighting you. I have friends and hobbies and things I like to do. What about you, Mokou?"

"Hey, I have friends!" Mokou said indignantly.

"Yeah? Aside from your teacher buddy who you only see maybe once a month and will be dead and gone in a few years anyway, name _one!" _When Mokou couldn't, Body rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Face it, Mokou. This feud of ours is the only thing you have! You're the only person in the universe more obsessed with me than I am!"

Mokou let out a low snarl of rage. She rose to her feet, palms igniting.

"Oh, this again?" Body sneered. She stepped back and spread her hands wide. "Fine! Scorch me for saying the truth! You've done it plenty of times already, so go ahead! Do it again! You know you want to!"

She was right, Mokou _did _want to. She wanted to kill the remaining Kaguya twin very much, to make the skin of her sneering face crack and melt. Her blood cried out for it, demanding satisfaction.

But what satisfaction was there in doing something she had done a million times already? With a weary sigh, Mokou snuffed out the fire and sat back down. "Maybe it's time for us to admit that we're both pretty horrible people," she muttered. A bitter semblance of a smile tugged at her lips. "I guess we really do deserve each other."

"Do we?" Body asked. Her voice was now surprisingly soft, all things considered. "I mean, can we just go back to the way things were, after everything that's happened?"

Mokou blanched. Body couldn't be suggesting what it sounded like she was suggesting, could she? "W-wait, you're not saying…I mean, you couldn't possibly mean we should…"

"I don't know," Body shrugged. She bit her lip. "I mean, when is enough going to be enough?"

Mokou's hands started shaking. She ran one through her hair as she tried to wrap her mind around the significance of what was happening. "S-s-so y-you're saying th-that's it? W-we should j-just forgive and forget, is th-that it?"

A few moments passed, and Body said in a quiet voice, "I think…we're a little beyond forgiveness at this point. I just think that maybe it's time to call it quits, you know? Just bury the hatchet and go our separate ways."

Bury the hatchet. The very thought of it made Mokou feel dazed. How was she supposed just let go of the grudge of a lifetime? Her hatred for Kaguya was all she really had, and without it, what was there for…

Mokou choked. Oh gods, Body was right. She _was _obsessed. Their feud was literally the only thing going for her, the only thing that drove her. Without it, she was nothing, whereas at least Kaguya had other things to occupy her time with.

With that realization came another. Did she need Kaguya? Was that why she refused to let go of her hatred? Not because of injustice against her and her long-dead family, not because of resentment over Kaguya's callousness, but because of a compulsive need to take vengeance against _something? _But if that were true, if hate and malice were all that she had to define her, was she any better than Kaguya? Or was she worse? Was she even a person? Was Fujiwara no Mokou truly long dead, leaving a murderous, psychopathic lookalike in her place?

All these years she had considered Kaguya to be a blight on the world, and it was her duty to remove her. But what was the real blight? Selfish narcissism, or violent maliciousness?

As she tried to work her way through the storm of emotions, Mokou slowly became aware of something saying her name. She blinked, shook her head, and looked up. Body was standing over her, looking honestly concerned. Well now, that was a first.

"Mokou?" she was saying. "Mokou! Hey, snap out of it!"

"What?" Mokou said hollowly.

"You went all blank for a moment there. And then you…" Body gestured awkwardly toward Mokou's face. "Well, that started happening."

Mokou blinked owlishly at her. She touched a hand to her face, and when she drew it back, her fingertips were wet. Tears. She had been crying. Huh.

"You, uh, you okay?"

Mokou let out a small laugh. She couldn't help it. Kaguya asking if she was okay. Wow.

"Kaguya, I haven't been okay since I drank that damned elixir," Mokou said. She laughed again. "In fact, I was pretty messed up even before then."

"Yeah, I can tell," Body nodded. She waited a few moments before venturing, "So…"

Mokou sighed. She lifted her hands to shoulder height before letting them fall again. "Well, what I am supposed to do then? I mean, you're right. I hate to say it, but you're right. If we bury the hatchet, what I am supposed to do with myself?"

"Find a new hobby?" Body suggested. "I've gone through several. And hey, you said you liked working with those kids before it all went to hell, right?"

Mokou flinched, but she nodded.

"So, why not do something like that? Help start another orphanage, work with your teacher friend or something. Maybe do something with those Gensokyo Peacekeeping Farts or whatever they're called."

"I don't know," Mokou said, wrinkling her nose. "Part of the reason I don't hang out with other Humans much is because they keep dying. It's not fun."

"Oh, give me a break. Mokou, in case you haven't noticed, we're not exactly the only immortals around. In fact, I think the people that _can _die are the minority. I'm sure you'll find _someone _to be your friend."

Mokou swallowed. Her head twitched in a very small nod. "Okay."

"Okay? You mean, yes?"

"Yeah." Mokou drew in a deep, shuddering breath and slowly let it out. "You're…you're right. Enough is…uh, enough is enough. It's over."

As she said the words, Mokou something change. It wasn't forgiveness, it wasn't reconciliation, it wasn't even relief. But it was good. It hurt in a way, letting go of her life's work, but it was a good hurt. She thought of the old cliché, in which people describe feeling like a great weight had been lifted from their shoulders. In this, it was more like something was leaving her. Back when she had first consumed the Hourai Elixir, she had literally felt her mother's disease being burned away, all those little patches of darkness inside her being consumed by a cleansing fire. It had hurt then too, but it had also been good.

"Well," she said. "I, uh, well."

"Yeah," Body nodded. She laughed. "Wow, that was anticlimactic."

"Yeah, I guess it was." Sighing, Mokou leaned back, letting her head fall back against the elevator wall. Outside, the elevator was still surrounded by clouds, they weren't swirling so angrily anymore, and didn't seem so dark.

"So what happens now?" she asked.

"Well, I guess we can always do this." Body extended her hand.

Mokou raised an eyebrow. "You don't honestly expect me to shake that, do you?"

"Why not? Come on, what would I have to gain by betraying you now?"

Mokou dubiously regarded the offered handshake like it was a coiled viper. Under normal circumstance, there would not be a force on earth that would convince her to take Kaguya's hand.

But these were far from normal circumstances. Mokou lifted her arm, hesitated, and quickly touched her hand to Body's. She gave it the quickest of shakes and withdrew quickly.

"See?" Body said. "That wasn't so hard."

"Like drawing needles of ice through my eyes," Mokou muttered.

"Didn't I do that to you once or twice?"

"Several times, actually." Mokou sighed again. Well, it was done. "All right, now the question is-"

"The question is _what in the infernal hells are you two doing?"_

The voice was Kaguya's, but it didn't come from Body. Surprised, both she and Mokou turned their attention to the other end of the elevator, where Head was staring at them with open disbelief written all over her face.

"Oh," Body said. "You're up."

Mokou shook her head. That's what she got for being sloppy.

"Damned straight I'm up," Head said, looking from one face to the other. "Well? Someone want to explain what the hell is going on? First Pyrobitch here breaks the truce and crisplifies me, and when I finally wake up, you two are all getting chummy with each other. Interesting."

"Well, not exactly _chummy," _Body ventured. "It's more of, uh…" She glanced pleadingly to Mokou, who only shrugged.

"She's your split personality," Mokou said. "You tell her."

"Tell me what?" Head demanded. "What the fuck happened?"

Looking extremely awkward, Body cleared her throat. "Well, we talked."

"Talked," Head repeated, her eyes narrowed. "All right. About what?"

"Stuff. You know, the past. And stuff."

"The past? What past? Whose past?"

"Oh, you know. Mine. Er, ours."

"You told her our past?" Head gawked at her twin. "You mean, all of it? Why?"

"Hey, I told you mine," Mokou said.

"But that's _different!" _Head protested. "Mine was personal!"

Mokou buried her face in her hands. Already she was regretting her decision.

"Hey, lay off," Body said crossly. "Hers was too."

Head gaped. "W-wait, did you just _stick up _for her? The hell is going on?"

"What happened?" Mokou raised her head and favored her unenlightened ex-rival with a ghastly grin. "Well, it's like this: it's over."

Predictably, Head met this revelation with bewilderment. "Huh?"

"It's over. Our feud. You, me, killing each other. The fights. The deathmatches. It's done. That's what we decided on."

Judging by how long Head spent staring silently at her, it was clear that she was still having trouble wrapping her mind around this. Her mouth moved without words and her brow rose and fell.

"True story," Mokou said after nearly a minute had gone by.

Head blinked several times. She turned to stare at Body, who was doing her best to avoid eye contact. "Body. Is this true?"

Body sighed. "Yes. Look, can we talk about this later?"

"You called off the feud. She violates the truce, roasts me like a barbeque coal, and you not only let it slide, you decide to make _peace? _Are you out of your godsdamned mind?"

This made Body cringe. "Look, it's over, okay? You don't have to like it, but enough is enough, all right? We'll talk about it later."

"Later?" Head grabbed Body by the shoulder and spun her around so they were eye-to-eye. "No! Now! You can't just drop this on me and not explain! I mean, for the gods' sakes, Body! Don't I at least get a say?"

Mokou coughed. "Uh, technically you did."

"Shut up, Mokou! I am not in the mood for-"

"Seriously," Body said in a low hiss. _"Later! _We have other things to worry about now."

Head looked like she disagreed. In fact, she looked like she wanted to clock Body right in the temple. But with what had to be an extreme amount of willpower, she released her iron hold on her twin's shoulders and backed away.

"Fine!" she seethed. "Later then! But so help me, if there isn't a later, you will both answer to _me!"_

"How does that make it different from any other day?" Mokou asked. Head just glowered.

"All right, all right, all right," Body said hastily. She placed herself between them and held out a palm to both Head and Mokou. "Enough of that. We need to concentrate on Rumia, remember?"

"Right," said Mokou. She put her palms on the ground and pushed herself up to her feet. "That. So as soon as this dumb box feels like landing, we can get right on that."

"Shouldn't be that much longer," Body said. "I mean, we are falling pretty…"

It was then that a troubling thought struck the Kaguya twin in question. She stopped talking, and her face scrunched up. They couldn't have forgotten _that, _could they?

Interesting enough, this accidentally caused Mokou and Head to finally find common ground, in that they both found Body's behavior to be confusing. They exchanged a brief look and Head shrugged. Mokou raised her hand, counted to five, and snapped her fingers.

"Yo!" she called, making Body jerk. "What's up?"

"Uh, just had a bad feeling." Body turned to her twin. "Hey, we _did _remember to instruct the elevator to gradually decrease in velocity as it nears the ground so that it comes to a gentle stop, right?"

"Duh."

"Oh good," Body said. She felt relieved. "It's just I don't remember doing it. Glad you had that handled."

Mokou had been around Kaguya long enough to know where this was heading. "No, she didn't," she said as she closed her eyes and pressed her fingertips to her forehead. "And neither did you. So fix that before crash and die horribly."

"Hey, come on," Head said in indignation. "Were you in our heads when we programmed this thing?"

"Technically? Yes."

"Oh, don't be obtuse. You weren't privy to our thoughts, so don't go assuming that we didn't prepare for-"

Body coughed into her fist. "Uh, we weren't really expecting it to go into freefall, remember?"

This was met with a thoughtful pause. "You know, you may have a point," Head admitted at last.

Though their feud may have been called off, Mokou made a mental note to put as much geography between herself and Kaguya as possible once they got back. The wayward princess was only tolerable when she was dead, dying, or not present. She wedged herself in the corner and braced herself. "Fix," she seethed. "It!"

"Yeah, yeah, keep your shirt on," Head muttered. She closed her eyes and extended her hand toward the control panel. "Okay, this should-"

Unfortunately, they had horribly underestimated how much distance they had left to fall. The elevator smashed into the stony ground at full speed, killing all aboard.

...

_Well, that wins the award for the most uncreative title ever. But it's late and I'm tired, leave me alone!_

_Anyway, this is the last "normal" flashbacky chapter. In case there's any confusion, the flashback is of Mokou and Kaguya's last fight before the day they got dissolved. It seemed like an appropriate place to close things off. Next chapter begins the three-part finale._

_Until next time, everyone! _


	12. A Song of Shadow and Flame, part 1

A Song of Shadow and Flame, part 1

_Once upon a time, there were three young girls. And all three girls were threatened with having what they treasured the most stolen away. To prevent this, each girl took within her a power she did not understand and became something more than she was. And thus, a great many people died. _

"_Once upon a time." A strange phrase, is it not? So often do these words precede a story that we come to assume that that is all they mean: a story is coming. However, consider for a moment what is being said, that at one specific point in time a singular event or events took place._

_Such is not the case for this story. All three girls existed at different points in time, years, even centuries apart. And they all desired such different things._

_The first girl wanted freedom._

_The second girl wanted the restoration of her family's honor._

_The third girl wanted to preserve her life._

_In this, only the first girl got what she wanted. The second failed not only failed to redeem her family, she ended up disgracing them further. And while the third was at least successfully in saving her own life, the consequences were greater than she could have ever imagined._

_But the details overcomplicate the situation. Just know this: once upon a time there were three young girls who wanted something and became both victims and monsters in order to gain it. And once upon a time, their stories would entwine and become one, however briefly. And the outcome of that story was not desirable for any of them._

…

The first thing Mokou noticed when she came to was that her body was in two pieces, separated just below her ribs and connected by only a few centimeters of flesh, muscle, and stringy intestine. Standing in the way of her regeneration was a large, jagged piece of metal that had somehow managed to get itself wedged into a large crack in the ground. It was more than likely a piece of the elevator, probably torn from the door, though its origins was of less interest to Mokou than the problem of it cutting almost all the way across her stomach. Furthermore, judging from the way her brain refused to acknowledge that she had legs, her spine had been severed.

"Oh, fer cryin' out loud," Mokou growled in annoyance. How did she keep getting herself into these situations? Okay, so she couldn't use her legs for leverage. Hmmm, could she yank the metal shard loose? She wrestled with it for a moment and gave up. No, it was stuck tight, and as strong as she was, the angle was against her.

Okay, fine. If she couldn't overcome the problem, she would go around. Mokou pushed her upper body up on her elbows and tried to scoot away from the shard. Unfortunately, the cut wasn't clean, and there were enough ragged tatters of flesh caught under the piece of metal to make that impossible. Drat.

"Mokou!" she heard Kaguya call, she couldn't tell which one. "Hey! Where are you? I need your help!"

"Over here!" she called back.

Head jogged into view, or at least she assumed it was Head and not Body with her tie missing. While the Kaguya twin was in fair shape, her outfit was not. The resurrection enchantments that had been woven into the fabric had taken care of any physical damage, but both it and the girl wearing it were roughed up and covered in dust and grime.

As soon as she saw Mokou, Head slowed to a stop and stared at her ex-rival's predicament. "Oooooh," she said with a wince. "Nasty."

"Ain't it just," Mokou said wryly. She beckoned with one hand. "C'mon and get me loose."

Fortunately, this time there was no argument. Head ran over and grabbed Mokou from under her arms. "Body's got the same problem," she said. "Or near enough. Everything from the bellybutton up is all crushed by this ginormous boulder."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. You got off easy. At least your important parts grew back. Now, brace yourself."

Head yanked back with all her strength, and Mokou's upper body was torn free. However, this had the unfortunate side-effect of severing the strip of flesh that connected her to her waist.

"Ow," Mokou said.

"Quit being melodramatic," Head grumbled as she retrieved Mokou's lower body and aligned it with its customarily elevated counterpart. She pressed the two together. They made a squishing sound and started to knit themselves into a single unit.

As Mokou patiently waited for her large and small intestine to be properly packed back where they belonged, she took stock of her surroundings. The best she could tell, she was in a wide, stony courtyard of a grim-looking fortress. Odd, but still grim. It consisted of tall, grim buildings constructed of grey, grim stones and surrounded by high, grim walls topped by grim gargoyles. Which was very odd, as the gargoyles were all of fairies, and Mokou wasn't accustomed to seeing fairies look so grim. Grim clouds swirled overhead.

Also, it looked like Eientei. A large, grim Eientei. Oh, the layout was different, as were the building materials, but there was something very Eientei-ish in its design. The walls were carved to resemble those of Kaguya's home, and the rooftops sloped just like Eientei's and were tiled just like Eientei's. True, the tiles were made from stone, but there was no mistaking them for anything else.

"Yes, I know what you're thinking," Head said irritably. "Shut up."

"I didn't say anything."

"But you were going to. So don't. It's not like I got to consult an exterior decorator before bringing us here."

"Okay, but…fairies? Why fairies?"

"Shut. Up. Mo. Kou."

Mokou's skin finished knitting together. She wiggled her toes, found them to be in satisfactory condition, and stood up. "Okay, let's go get Body."

Head led her to a narrow walkway between one of the buildings and the wall. There, a piece of the wall had been knocked loose, presumably by the elevator, and now lay on the ground. Sticking out from it was a skirt and two stockinged legs.

"See?" Head said. "You got off easy."

There was a metal bar lying nearby, another fragment of the recently deceased elevator no doubt. "Yeah, what about you?" Mokou said as she jammed it under the rock. "I had my legs cut off. You were walking around fresh as a daisy."

"A filthy daisy," Head said. She and Mokou started pushing down on the bar. "Actually, I ended up getting skewered by a bunch of broken glass. I had to yank it all out before I could even get up."

"At least you could do it without help," Mokou pointed out. The boulder was starting to shift a bit.

"There is that," Head agreed. She fell silent for a time. Then she winced and said, "Hey, Mokou. Can I ask you something?"

"No promises I'll answer."

"When I was dead, what exactly were you and Body doing?"

"Talking," Mokou grunted. "Trading life stories. Working out a truce, a real one."

"Uh-huh," Head said, not sounding like she believed her. "And that's it? Nothing else?"

Mokou stopped pushing. She looked at Head from across the bar, her left eyebrow askew. "Head," she said slowly. "Are you asking if I fucked your twin?"

"Well, I'm just saying, you two seemed suspiciously buddy-buddy when I woke up," Head said with a shrug.

"No we weren't. And why in the hell did you come to that conclusion?"

"Hey, she is technically me, okay? I don't want to have banged you secondhand."

Mokou stared at her without blinking. "Okay. You do realize you're accusing…yourself of being unfaithful…to yourself…with your arch-nemesis, right?"

"And?"

"And doesn't that strike you as monumentally stupid?"

"Oh, forget it," Head snapped. She went back to shoving down on the bar. "Let's just get this thing off her."

They worked in silence for a time, gradually levering the stone up centimeter by centimeter, and then Mokou said, "I don't believe you."

"Don't believe what now?"

"You. We've been fighting for three hundred years now, it finally gets called off, and the only thing you're worried about is sex?"

Body ground her teeth together. "No, that's just what I'm asking about _now. _We can discuss that other pot of crock _later."_

"I see," Mokou said stonily. "So you don't buy that it's over."

"Why should I? You attacked me first, remember? And kept doing it for, as you just pointed out, three godsdamned centuries. This whole rivalry was _your_ expect me to believe that just because you and Squishy here had a little heart-to-heart talk, you decide to just let bygones be bygones?" Head let out a derisive snort. "Right. I'll believe that when you freeze over."

Mokou sighed. "Think what you want. I don't care."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

Mokou said nothing. She really couldn't blame Head for her suspicions. Hell, if it were, she wouldn't believe herself either. But she didn't have time to entertain them now. Head was Body's problem, and…and wasn't just a wonderful summary of how monumentally screwed up things were that she now had to rely on one copy of Kaguya to convince another copy of Kaguya that she didn't want to fight anymore?

Soon they managed to raise the stone enough to free Body's lower half. "Yuck," Mokou said, looking at the mess underneath.

"It's a damned shame," Head grunted. She grabbed Body by the ankles and pulled most of her into the open. "Look what it did to her uniform."

"So? It'll mend with the rest of her."

"It's the principle of the thing," Head answered. She nudged Body's leg with her foot. "All right you, get to rezzing."

Body's repairs took longer than Mokou's had, but in good time she was sitting up and easing out the last lingering twinges of pain.

"Okay, that sucked," she announced. She rolled her head around and winced. "Don't tell me I was the only one who got crushed."

"You were, but I got impaled," Head told her.

"Bisected for me," Mokou said.

Body sighed. "Well, there's that at least." She looked around. "Where are we?"

"Our fortress," Head told her. There was an unmistakable note of pride in her voice. "Eientei style, no less."

Mokou shoved her hands into her pockets. "Sure, if you ignore the fairy gargoyles."

"Shut up, Mokou," Head groaned. To Body, she said, "Well, if you're done piecing yourself back together, maybe we'd better go inside."

The three of them walked back into the courtyard and stood before the fortress's main entrance. Like everything else, it was large, bore a striking resemblance to the one back at Eientei, and grim.

"Now that's a big door," Mokou observed. "So, do either of you have a key, or should we knock?"

The double-door answered before the twins could. There was a _clonk, _a _thunk, _and they slowly swung outward, gears groaning and chains clinking.

"Okay," Mokou said, staring. "That's not overblown at all."

"Shut up Mokou," Head said again. "Let's just go inside already."

The Kaguya twins walked through the towering doorway. After a moment of hesitation, Mokou followed.

…

In contrast with its Eientei-like exterior, the inside of the fortress looked more like a temple, with angled walls, stone pillars, narrow hallways, and Lunarian glyphs mixed with Gensokyian runes carved into the walls. Though it was still grey and grim. Mokou's pestering must have put Head and Body into a foul mood when they created this place.

As they moved forward, Mokou noticed a series of steel doors without handles set into the walls. Her curiosity piqued, she walked towards one. As she approached, a red light flashed, and the door slid out of the way with a whoosh.

Mokou peeked inside. She whistled.

"What is it?" one of the twins called back to her.

"Spears," she answered. "Lunarian by the look of them." Her eyes swept over the rows and rows of crystalline weapons. "Lots and lots of spears."

There was another whoosh, and one of the twins announced, "This one has swords."

"And this one has assault rifles," said the other. She jogged over to the adjacent door, looked inside, and said, "And this one has crossbows."

Mokou stepped away from the door. "So, they're all armories then?"

"This one has some nasty looking bombs," Body observed as she leaned through one of the doorways. "Sure looks like it. With weapons from every era of history."

"I'm starting to think we should have been more specific when we asked for this place," Head said, shaking her namesake.

Mokou found a room full of wooden clubs topped with round stones. Amusing. "Well, you know what they say: better to have it and not need it then need it and not have it."

"Condom philosophy, huh? Yeah, I can get behind that." Head started back down the passageway. "C'mon, let's find the command center or whatever."

"Command Center or Whatever" wasn't far. It turned out to be a circular room with two low stone rings: one along its outer circumference and another within that opened at both ends. Strange machines and controls were all along the outer ring, while floating over the center of the room was a glowing orange sphere. The walls were covered with screens that displayed what Mokou supposed to be different parts of the dream world. She glimpsed Kamakura, Kaguya's city, the field of grass-covered pillars, and the lunar sea of lilies, among several others. And to the right of the entrance was…

"Sushi bar!" Body said happily. "At last!"

"Friggin' finally," Head added, and the two of them attacked the specially prepared seafood treats like a couple of identical piranhas.

Mokou watched them, torn between irritation and amusement. Out of all the times to stuff one's face with imaginary delicacies, this was most certainly not one of them. And yet, the whole thing was just so silly that she couldn't be mad at them. Especially when they slowly stopped their gluttony and turned to look at each other in bewilderment, their cheeks still full.

"What's wrong?" Mokou asked. "Doesn't taste right?"

Head swallowed. "Well, it's…okay, but I thought it would be better."

"Me too," Body agreed as she swallowed as well. "It's not bad, but it's really not all that good either."

Mokou scratched her chin. "You know, if I recall, you only asked for a decent sushi bar. Not a great one, just decent."

Body made a face. "Crap, she's right. We have got to learn to be more specific."

"You're telling me." Sighing, the twins abandoned the sushi bar and turned their attention to the rest of the room.

"You guys know what any of this does?" Mokou asked as they inspected the various instruments.

"Whatever we want, probably," Head said as she leaned over a panel of blinking buttons. "I don't know crap about computers, so my imagination doesn't either."

"So?"

"So I figure all we have to do is want to do something, pick a control, and say, 'Okay, this one will make such-and-such' happen. For example, right now I would like a mackerel to land on your head. Observe."

Before Mokou could process what she had just said, Head pressed one of the buttons. And true enough, a fish fell from the ceiling to land wetly on Mokou's head.

"Oh, I am going to love it here," Head cackled. She entwined her fingers, flipped them around, and cracked her knuckles. In response, Mokou threw the fish at her.

"Guys, knock it off," Body said. "And come look at this."

She was standing with her hands clasped behind her, looking up at the glowing sphere. Shooting a dirty look at Head, Mokou went over to join her.

"What is it?" she said. "A miniature sun or something?"

"Seeing how we haven't all turned to ash, I'd say probably not," Body replied. "It's not even hot."

"Heat makes no difference to me."

"Yeah, but it does to us, and we're not bursting into flames. So, not a sun." Her face twitched. "And don't get any ideas, please. The last thing we need in here is a _real _mini-sun."

"Could she survive a mini-sun?" Head wondered out loud. "I mean, I know, fireproof and all that, but that's a lot of fire…Hey Body, have we ever launched her into the Sun?"

"No, and we're not going to start," Body said firmly.

"I absorbed a Phoenix, numbskull," Mokou said to Head. "Phoenixes are _from _the Sun. I'd suffocate, sure, but not burn."

"Will you two forget the freaking Sun already and concentrate on the big orange ball?" Body snapped. Was this what all her fights with Mokou looked from the outside? If so, it was a wonder that someone hadn't lost patience and launched them both into the Sun eons ago.

"All right, fine," Head said as she folded her arms over her chest. "What is the big orange ball? Or rather, what do you want it to do?"

In answer, Body looked straight at the sphere and said, "Okay, let's see her!"

The sphere pulsed, once, and then its interior seemed to open up, revealing a scene. Mokou scowled. She had quite enough of different scenes being played out through surreal means.

However, this was no memory. In the sphere, she saw Rumia, the current one, striding forward down a forest trail. She was lazily swinging her sword back and forth and humming to herself. What was more, she was now completely horrifying.

Her fingers, once perfectly humanlike, were now curving, metallic blades. Her teeth, once small but sharp, were now razor-sharp nails. Two large leathery black wings sprouted from her shoulder blades to fold around her. Her shadow warped and writhed around her, and wherever it touched plants withered and died. And her eyes…red eyes were quite common in Gensokyo. Mokou had them herself. But while her own eyes often glowed while wielding a substantial amount of heat, they had never glowed like this. Not with Hellfire.

"Holy _shit," _Head breathed. "Is that what she really looks like?"

"She looks like a demon," Body said. "Not the Makai kind. A real, Grade-A demon. One of the Fallen."

"Yeah, but don't they have six wings?"

Mokou didn't partake in their conversation. She didn't say anything at all. In fact, the sight made her feel a little sick.

In her mind's eye, she saw the Rumia Yagami she had known, forgotten, and only recently recalled: a little energetic Human girl, remarkable only for the surprising number of scrapes she could get herself into in a single day. She held that image in her mind and put it side-by-side with the monster she now saw.

Gods, what those people done to her? She knew now what Rumia had done to them; those corpses were evidence enough. But what had they done to her, to turn her into this? And whatever it was, how could they do it to a child?

Mokou's hands curled into shaking claws, which in turn clenched into fists. She was a horrible person, perhaps even a monster, but she would never, _never _deliberately deliver that kind of cruelty to a child. What Rumia had done to her attackers had been too quick and too kind. If only Mokou had been there, had gotten back in time. Even if she couldn't have rescued Rumia and the others, she could have shown those back-birthed fools the various skills she had picked up over the years. So many ways to die, so many ways to cause pain, and they would get to experience each and every one. Surely there could be no one more deserving.

Then a hand appeared in her field of vision and snapped its fingers. Mokou jerked back, startled out of her rueful thoughts.

"Hey, chill out," Head said. "You're about to go up in flames."

Mokou looked down at herself and realized that she was giving off quite a lot of heat. Her hands were literally smoking. She took a deep breath and reestablished her internal balance.

"You okay?" Body asked. Head looked at her like she was crazy.

"Why," she said slowly, "do you care?"

"I'm fine," Mokou grunted as she rubbed her forehead. "Just got caught up in a moment of violent hatred, that's all. Don't worry, had nothing to do with you."

"Okay, that's it!" Head exploded. She pointed at both Body and Mokou and demanded, "Just what the hell is _with _you two?"

"Huh?" Mokou said. Not the most intelligent response, but she wasn't feeling especially articulate.

"Look at you! I'm out for a few minutes, which I _still _owe you for by the way, and when I come to, the feud is off and you two are all BFF's like the last three hundred years never happened!"

Mokou sighed. She didn't need this. "Why," she said in the exact same tone Head had used, "do you care?"

"Head, I told you, I'll talk to you later," Body said, sounding testy.

"It _is _later!" Head shouted. To Mokou's eyes, she looked about ready to start frothing at the mouth. "You promised me an explanation. So let's hear it already!"

Mokou closed her eyes and rubbed her throbbing head. She _really _didn't need this. Part of her wanted to just flash-fire the annoying twin and work with the somewhat more reasonable one.

Fortunately, she was spared from having to provide a length explanation, though the source was unwanted. "It's simple, really," Eirin said as she came in through the door. The Lunarian doctor had traded in her urban attire for her usual red-and-blue dress. "They talked, they finally came to see each other's side, reasoned that enough was enough already, and decided to call it quits. Not hard to understand, really."

Mokou eyed her warily. "Didn't I ashify you?"

The smile Eirin sent her way was not at all friendly. "Mokou, a little thought exercise if you'd please. Picture, in your mind's eye, a tree. Just a normal tree, with bark, and branches, and leaves; fruit is optional. Now imagine that tree on fire, wood burning, leaves crisping, the whole thing consumed by the flames until nothing is left but a pile of ash." She clasped her hands in front of her waist. "Now, mentally remove the flames, and imagine the tree whole and healthy again. Was it at all difficult?"

Like Mokou, the twins seemed unsure of what to make of Eirin's sudden arrival. "Oh," Body said as she moved around to put the orange sphere between herself and Eirin. "Hi. Hey, you're not upset about us not saying yes to your plan and going with Mokou, are you?"

"Only if you want me to be," Eirin said neutrally.

Head frowned. "Huh?"

Mokou felt she understood. "I think she means it's time for you to realize that she's not real," she explained. "Figment of your imagination and all that."

"Oh. Well, we already knew _that. _But these guys have a habit of doing stuff on their own, if you hadn't already noticed."

"Not this time," Eirin said. She strode forward toward the sphere. Head and Body both retreated, though Mokou stood her ground. She had dealt with this shallow pretender before, she could do so again.

But rather than demand satisfaction for the insult, Eirin simply walked up to stand next to her and contemplate the image of Rumia. She made _hmmmm_ noises as she rubbed her chin in a thoughtful manner. "As much as I would like to save you all from yourselves, I'm afraid I am limited by my nature. All of my kind are. As such, if you are committed to this course, we have no choice but to follow."

"Well, that's reassuring," Mokou said, though not quite as nastily as she normally would have. She didn't want another velmick staring her in the face. "We would probably have an easier time believing that if you hadn't spent so much time sending monsters after all."

"Plus our families," Body added. "I mean, come on. That's just mean."

"Oh, come off it," Eirin said dismissively. "Most of those were simple nightmares doing as nightmares are wont to do. Besides, you were in league with the trespasser at the time. Now, you are not."

"Circumstances necessitated a change?" Mokou suggested.

Eirin wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Unfortunately. Understand that we still have _strong _reservations concerning this course of action, and I would _highly _advise against it. However, if Kaguya wishes to follow it, we have no choice but to follow."

Head, who had been standing silently ever since Eirin's arrival, broke into the conversation. "Wait," she said, dark eyes narrowing. "When you say 'we,' you mean…"

"I mean us figments, of course."

"Interesting," Head murmured. "So, that would include…oh, let's say those Lunarian soldiers that took us captive?"

"Naturally."

"Those constantly spawning sailors?"

"Of course. Though I doubt they would be of much use."

Head and Body exchanged a look. Then Body said hesitantly, "And the velmick?"

Eirin smirked. "How many would you like?"

"Oh _my," _Head said as she rubbed her palms together. "This is starting to get interesting. And what about the Zerg?"

"Ah," Eirin said. "The Zerg. Funny you should mention them."

She motioned toward the sphere, and the view swept past Rumia to focus on a figure that had previously been walking just out of sight, leading Rumia on.

The person was aesthetically interesting, Mokou had to admit, as well as aesthetically stupid. It was like someone had combined a woman with a lobster and given her dreadlocks and skeletal wings. It didn't take any great leaps of deduction to figure out where _she _had come from.

Nor was it needed, for as soon as the twins saw who it was, they recognized her immediately. What was more, they reacted as a child meeting Santa Claus for the first time (Mokou being exempt, as she hadn't been a child at the time and hadn't even heard his myth until Kaguya had forcibly injected it into Gensokyo. Still, he had been a nice enough chap).

"Sun, moon, stars, supernovas, and comets," Head whispered, her voice breathless. "I-is that who I think it is?"

"Obviously," Eirin answered, clearly enjoying the reaction.

"Ohmigods," Body breathed. "Ohmigods, ohmigods, ohmigods. And she's working with us?"

"_For _us, to be exact. Well, you. She is there to keep an eye on Rumia, as well as carry out any tasks you might have for her."

Head stared at her. "Kerrigan is working for us."

"Yes."

"Kerrigan. Queen of Blades. That Kerrigan."

"Indeed she is."

"Wow." Head turned to her equally starstruck twin. "I don't know about you, but I'm starting to have second thoughts about turning down the whole 'Chill Here for a While' offer."

And with that, Mokou had enough. She roughly muscled past Head to claim Eirin's attention. "Look, I don't give a crap who…or what…that ugly pincushion is or where she…assuming that is a she…came from. I'm more interested in where they are now."

"Certainly, you two-bit, combustible skank," Eirin said agreeably.

Mokou blinked. "Wait, what did you call me?"

Instead of answering, Eirin looked back to the sphere. "Zoom out," she told it. "Let's see the place."

"You _are _holding a grudge!"

"Oh, indubitably. But we can discuss the repercussions of your poor impulse control later. In the meantime, please do direct your attention to the viewing globe. There, I believe your question is being answered."

It was indeed, though it wasn't the answer Mokou had expected. Rumia heading for the courtyard of a large mansion that sat in the middle of the forest of bamboo. It was such a central location to everyone present that Mokou was actually ashamed that she hadn't recognized it right off the bat.

"What," Body said flatly. "Why are they in Eientei?"

"Because she believes that we are still going to help her," Eirin answered. "She was promised an escort to the center of your conjoined subconscious minds, and has been led to believe that the center would be represented by Eientei." She smirked. "We saw no reason to dissuade her of her beliefs, and in fact constructed an Eientei just for her. All in the service of being accommodating hosts, I assure you."

"Okay, I gotcha," Body said, grinning. "So, now that she's been lured into an ambush…"

"You simply need to decide the exact specifics of that ambush," Eirin confirmed for her. "Hence, this war room. And the sizeable armory that preceded it."

Mokou took a deep breath. Well, she was committed to this course. There was nothing for it. "All right, so basically, we're running the dream now, right? Both her half and mine?"

"A simplified way of putting things, but that is not incorrect."

"So long as we help you get rid of Rumia, right?"

Eirin nodded. "By any means necessary."

"Fine then. All right ladies, listen up. This is what those means are going to be."

…

"**Are we there yet?"** Rumia asked for the fifth time in the last ten minutes.

"Almost," Kerrigan answered, also for the fifth time in the last ten minutes.

"**That's what you said the last four times."**

"And it's become progressively more true each time. Now, be silent. We'll be there in due time."

Rumia flashed a grin at her guide. **"Better be. Don't forget what I said about turning Kaguya into a brain dead paperweight."**

"I am not in the habit of forgetting things." If Rumia's taunts were starting to grate Kerrigan, she made no sign. "Nor will it be necessary. You will get your exit, have no fear."

"**I have none. You should, though."**

To this Kerrigan offered no answer. She merely kept moving forward through the forest, Rumia stalking behind, leaving a trail of withered foliage behind her.

As they marched on, Rumia idly glanced around at the shadows between the trees. She wondered how the betrayal was going to take place. Just as Kaguya had never trusted her, she did not trust this manifestation of Kaguya's mind. She was being set up; of this there was no doubt. Just as well. She would annihilate whatever was waiting for her and reestablish the terms of their "agreement."

That really was the problem with dealing with inferior beings in possession of delusion of grandeur. No matter how many times you put them in their place, they always got uppity all over again. It would be easier if she could just cut her way out like she had done so back at her own subconscious. Unfortunately, doing so risked doing irreparable harm to both Kaguya and Mokou, and she needed them alive, at least in a functional sense.

So she continued to play along, following yet another manifestation of those two twits' numerous cognitive deficiencies, letting them feel that they had the upper hand. Unfortunately, as good as it had felt to drop pretenses and return fully to being her patron's avatar, doing so had brought its Voice back to the front of her mind.

**Kill, **it whispered, low but insistently. **Everything. Destroy all life. Rend their souls from their bodies. Leave nothing but bones and dust in your wake.**

And so on and so forth. Normally Rumia would be more than happy to comply, but as the current situation called for some measure of patience and restraint, she had was forced to ignore Azrael's call and the urges that came with it. The bother of it all was the Voice wasn't intelligent; it was nothing more than a prerecorded psychic message, programmed to play over and over with little change. As such, she couldn't just tell it to sit down and wait until the appropriate time.

**Remake the world in My image. May ashes be your clay and the earth your canvas. And as the cold fires right higher, the sweet scent of Death will reach even the Creator's nostrils, and He will look down on your Masterpiece and weep for joy.**

Great, now it was waxing poetical. The gods save her from melodramatic enemies of Heaven. Rumia sighed and tried to distract herself by picking out interesting shapes in the bamboo stalks. That one, for example, reminded her of a severed rabbit's head, and with a few adjustments, that one could be a hangman's gallows.

Yeah, that wasn't helping.

"We're here," Kerrigan suddenly announced. Sighing with relief, Rumia looked up.

Predictably enough, she had been led to a mock-up of Eientei. It was a more-or-less accurate representation of the real thing, only without the rabbits that would normally be milling around and the shadows were longer. It wasn't the center though, that much was obvious. Even though she was expecting it, Rumia still felt a little offended. Again her intelligence was being insulted. She knew she shouldn't let it bother her, but come on.

Ah well, might as well play the farce to the end. **"Homey looking place," **she remarked. **"Eientei, right? Makes sense."**

"Kaguya and Mokou will be here within the hour," Kerrigan told her as she moved to conceal herself in the shadows. "They are on their way already. So might want to put your face on."

"**Fair enough." **Rumia concentrated, and her features shifted, remolding themselves from Rumia the Shadow Youkai to Rumia the generic youkai woman. She was tempted to remain as she was, in the off-chance that Mokou and Kaguya really were on their way, as their reactions would be priceless.

That done, she sat down on a rock and waited.

She didn't have to wait long. Soon enough, she could smell them coming. Well, Mokou at least. Her eyebrows rose. Well, well, well, so they _were _delivering the real deal. She was expecting them to try to trick her with a couple of lookalikes. Now, why would they take her to a false center but bring the actual girls within her grasp? And…

Where was Kaguya? The Paranoid Princess was nowhere within range. There were fresh hints of her scent following Mokou, so they had been together recently, but the Lunarian herself was not present.

Her scarlet eyes narrowed. Maybe she wasn't the only one being underestimated here. She shot the hidden Kerrigan a suspicious glance. What was her game?

Well, no time to make an issue of it now. Her former traveling companion was now coming into view. She looked more-or-less the same, though Mokou seemed to have lost her father's sword. Rumia tsked. Now that was just careless.

Well, it was time to get into character. "Hey!" she said as she stood up, a wide grin on her face. "Look who finally showed up! Hey Mokou, how was the jail break?"

"Revelatory," Mokou said. "How did you get here?"

"Walked," Rumia answered primly. "As well as flew, ran, even fell a little bit. Did some digging at one point too. No swimming though. I guess they got tired of that theme."

Mokou smirked. "Not quite. Glad to see you're all right though, especially since the last time we saw you, you were being led away in chains."

Rumia laughed. They were as standoffish as ever. "So were you. And you're not the only badass around, you know." Still no sign of Kaguya. Yup, this was a problem. She shot a quick glance in Kerrigan's direction. Maybe a lesson would be appropriate. "It wasn't without incident though. Them rabbits have some nasty teeth." She looked Mokou up and down. "And judging by how roughed up you look, neither was yours. Family reunion get out of hand?"

Instead of raising the bait, Mokou said nothing. Rumia's smile faltered.

"All right," she said at last. "What's up? And where is Kaguya? Did she get lost?"

"She's on her way. But there was something I wanted to ask you first."

Oh yeah. Something was definitely up. Smiling in a disarming manner, Rumia's fingers stroked the hilt of her sword. "And what might that be?"

Mokou stepped forward. "Rumia," she said. "How did you survive?"

Well, lovely. Another rendition of Paranoia Theater. Rumia could not _wait _until she was free of these idiots. "By being badder than the baddies and tougher than the toughies. Give me some credit, Fujiwara. I may not be immortal like you two, but I can, in fact, look after myself."

"That's not what I meant," Mokou said. "I'm talking about the cross."

And with that, the game was changed.

"W-what?" Rumia whispered.

"The cross, Rumia," Mokou repeated. "How did you survive being crucified?"

…

If Mokou had been harboring any doubts that the Rumia she had been travelling with was also _her _Rumia, the one she had thought dead, they died as soon as she saw Rumia's reaction. The youkai (if youkai she truly was) was absolutely dumbstruck. Her face had gone bone-white, her mouth slack, and she seemed to have trouble keeping her balance. But more noticeable was her shadow. When Mokou had entered the courtyard, Rumia's shadow had been just a shadow. But as soon as Mokou had pierced her with her question, it had exploded outward behind her like a flashfire, cutting down all living things in its wake.

Mokou's brow rose. Wow, that had been interesting. It wasn't quite as impressive as those tornadoes, but it was certainly something.

But there was no time to dwell on that now. Rumia was starting to advance, marching toward Mokou with deadly purpose. Her eyes were blazing brightly, and though her shadow had returned to manageable size, it writhed around her like a living thing.

"What," she growled. "What. Did. You. Say?"

Oh boy. Mokou had expected a reaction, but this was a wee bit more aggressive than she had anticipated. But it was too late to rethink her words now. So she stood her ground, steeled her eyes, and said, "I was there, Rumia. I saw it. The dead field, the corpses, and the cross, or what was left of it. And I know you were nailed to that cross. How did-"

Even with the way things were going, Mokou was completely unprepared for what happened next. Rumia let out a shriek that could only be described with such adjectives as "piercing," "unearthly," or even "physically painful to listen to." And then Mokou was hit with _something, _like a wave of…it wasn't cold. Cold was an insufficient way to describe what Mokou felt. It was more like she was bowled over by a void, one that sapped all of the considerable heat from her body and, unsatisfied with that, stole it from her surroundings as well.

Mokou choked back a cry, and for a moment it seemed like her heart had stopped. Then her vision cleared and she was suspended almost a full meter off the ground, her back pressed against a stone pillar. Rumia was there, her hand tight around Mokou's throat, the other gripping the hilt of her sword. Her face was twisted into a mask of fury, and her skin bulged with black veins. It was like her demonic self was about ready to burst free.

Mokou struggled to free herself, but she might as well have been trying to lift a mountain. Rumia's hand was stronger than steel and colder than ice.

"How?" Rumia demanded. "It's not possible. This isn't my dream, it's yours. You can't know about that. It just isn't possible. How do you know? **TELL ME!"**

…

"Holy shit!" Body blurted out. She thrust a shaking finger at the monitors. "Rumia's gone Anti-Form!"

"Not an inaccurate way to put it, actually," Eirin said. The faux Lunarian doctor scowled down at a display of energy readings that had just started to spaz out. "Now you see why we've been working so hard to get rid of her?"

Eirin and the two Kaguyas were still at the Command Center or Whatever. It had actually been Mokou's idea, based on the reasoning that if Rumia couldn't get her hands on Kaguya, she couldn't achieve her goal, giving Mokou more time to work on breaking her. Head of course had immediately declared Mokou's idea to be pants-on-head retarded, but if she wanted to go alone to face the crazy youkai that had reportedly wiped out the Zerg and the velmick without even trying, that was her affair. Her only condition was that she be provided a large tub of popcorn to watch the proceedings with.

Still, it wasn't as if Mokou was completely without backup. Her Lunarian allies were keeping a sharp eye on things to provide support or whisk Mokou away if needed. And as the twins were still getting used to the whole godlike control thing and Mokou hadn't even tried it yet, Eirin had been put in charge making sure she didn't die.

And judging by how swiftly Rumia's façade had dropped, Mokou did seem to be in immediate danger of doing just that.

Body cleared her throat. "So, uh, you can stop this, right? Pull her out?"

"Pulling her out is a bit premature at this point," Eirin said. She reached for a nearby microphone. "But I do think a little friendly support is in order."

Bringing the microphone to her mouth, she said, "Kerrigan, Trespasser is getting violent, as you've no doubt noticed. Calm her."

…

Mokou tried to answer Rumia's question, she really did, but she couldn't even breathe. Noticing this, Rumia loosened her grip just enough for Mokou to gasp the smallest amount of air into her lungs.

"Was. There," she forced out. "Saw it. For. Myself."

"You were there?" Rumia demanded. "How? I don't remember-"

An earth-shaking roar cut into their conversation. Rumia had just enough time to turn and see a hulking monster that seemed to be a combination of all the worst parts of a rhinoceros, an elephant, and a goliath beetle charging at her before she was swept aside by one of its tusks.

Rumia tumbled head-over-heels through the air, but managed to regain her senses before she hit ground. Hovering, she straightened up and turned toward the snarling beast, her eyes glowing with hate. Her left hand came up, and darkness danced around her fingers.

Then she lurched forward with a short gasp of pain. That lobster-girl of Kaguya's, Carrie or whatever her name was, had somehow managed to sneak up behind Rumia to stab the razor-sharp shoulders of her wings into Rumia's back.

"Here's your exit," she said in a weird, layered voice. Then she grabbed Rumia's head with both hands and hurled her out of the courtyard.

That done, she straightened up, brushed herself off, and started walking toward Mokou, a smug look of satisfaction on her face. She motioned with one hand, and the beast charged after Rumia.

"Hello, Mokou," Carrie said. "Sorry about the interruption, but it looked like you needed a hand."

Mokou slumped down. "Thanks, Carrie" she coughed, rubbing her throat. "Though that one-liner made no sense at all."

The look of contempt she was given was so familiar that Mokou was certain that Kaguya was watching her from behind those yellow eyes. "Inside joke," Carrie said. "And it's Kerrigan. Can you stand?"

"Obviously." In demonstration, Mokou stood up.

"Good." Kerrigan turned away from her to focus on Rumia, who was pushing herself to her feet. "Find a more defensible position and better prepare yourself. I'll buy you the time."

Mokou's face screwed up in confusion. "And how do you expect to do-"

Kerrigan's beast's bellows suddenly rose in pitch, turning into a scream. Then they died down, finally ending with a gurgle. A beat passed, and then its body was hurled through the courtyard wall. Mokou and Kerrigan stared at it as it tumbled past.

Shaking her head, Kerrigan motioned for Mokou to get back. "Get moving already." She crouched down, and her wings snapped wide. "And watch a true professional at work."

Rumia emerged through the hole she had created. When she saw Kerrigan was doing, she scowled. "Oh," she said. "You. Right." She beckoned with one hand. "Well, have at it then."

"Wait!" Mokou said, reaching for the lobster girl. "You can't-"

Kerrigan leapt up high. "Prepare yourself!" she snarled as she swooped down, talons outstretched and reaching for Rumia's throat.

…

"Yes!" Head shouted. She pumped her fist into the air. "Now we're talking!"

"Seriously, this is what we should have done from the beginning!" Body chimed in. "All right, assimilate that bitch!"

…

Right before Kerrigan's pounce found purchase, Rumia's arm snapped up. The lobster girl suddenly found her momentum halted by the thin, silver sword that was now impaling her through the chest.

"Yeah, no," Rumia said. She gave her sword a flick, and Kerrigan fell into a crumpled heap in the dust.

Mokou immediately moved to intervene, but Rumia's shadow leapt across the courtyard. It spread out in a straight line, and a wall of darkness sprung up from it, driving Mokou back.

Sighing, Rumia squatted down to the twitching Queen of Blades. "Given your origin," she said, "I'm assuming Kaguya is watching right now. And seeing how much she loves her monsters, she's probably got a long queue of them waiting to be thrown at me. I really don't have time for that, so I think a little object lesson in the difference between fantasy and reality is in order."

With that, she reached out and grabbed the top of Kerrigan's head.

The wall of darkness fell just in time for Mokou to see the aftereffects of Rumia's touch. Her heart fell. Well, this had gone to Hell in record breaking time.

…

"What?" Body gaped. "She killed Kerrigan?" She grabbed Head by the shoulder and started shaking her. "She killed Kerrigan!"

"I know, I saw!" Head snapped as she pulled away. "Eirin, what gives?"

Eirin scowled. "Well, obviously the real monster was stronger than the imaginary one. Who would have thought?"

"Yeah, but she's…she's Kerrigan!"

"Was."

"Body, shut up," Head said. "We can always make another one."

"And the girl learns," Eirin said. "But as touching as your concern for our departed colleague might be, I believe Mokou's predicament to be of far greater concern."

…

Mokou stared in shock at the withered husk Kerrigan had become. While she had figured that Rumia had to be responsible for the bodies back at the field, to see her wield such power so casually was a bit on the worrying side.

As for Rumia, she seemed more annoyed by the interruption than anything. "Professional my ass," she muttered as she straightened. "I don't know about you, but I'm getting sick of these pretentious, thickskulled figments of Kaguya's, who all keep thinking they can-" Then she caught sight of Mokou and blinked in surprise. "Oh yeah. That's what we were doing."

With no other warning, she struck. Mokou was immediately on the defensive as Rumia assaulted her with a flurry of supernaturally fast slashes and kicks. To Mokou's credit, she actually managed to deflect the first volley and even land a punch of her own on Rumia's cheek. Rumia looked surprised. Then with malicious snarl, she lunged forward, tackling Mokou to the ground.

Mokou tried to push her off, but once again Rumia's fingers were around her throat.

"Tell me again," Rumia said, her face mere centimeters from Mokou's. "Tell me what you just said."

Looking her straight in the eye, Mokou forced out, "I was…at the field…where they crucified you."

Rumia's face went blank. She leaned in close to stare into Mokou's eyes, as if trying to pluck answers she needed right from her mind. Then, with a snort of disgust, she threw Mokou to the side.

"You were there?" she said. "All right, some clarification is needed. Do you mean here, in the dream? Or were you actually at the actual event? Because if it's the latter, you and I need to have some words."

"Both," Mokou hissed. She rubbed her throat. Her skin tingled unpleasantly. "I was at both."

"That right?" Rumia's eyes narrowed. "Well, I didn't think anyone had gotten away, but it seems I wasn't as thorough as I had thought." Five wriggling tendrils of smoke rose up behind her, their multi-fingered tips outstretched and grasping. **"I'll just have to correct that then."**

…

_And so it begins. The beginning of the end. The alpha of the omega. The final hoedown and all that jazz._

_Though in hindsight, it was probably a mistake to introduce Kerrigan, mainly because though she's a second-rate figment (Kaguya has only ever played the first Starcraft game, after all. She doesn't even have Brood Wars!), she's the sort of character that kind of demands attention, requiring her to be disposed of lest she take start taking screentime away from the leads. But ah well, she served her purpose._

_Until next time everyone! _


	13. A Song of Shadow and Flame, Part 2

A Song of Shadow and Flame, Part 2

"And this my friends is what we get when we let Mokou make the plans," Head said wearily. She sighed and buried her face in her palm. "Fantastic. Less than a minute in, and she gets both herself and Kerrigan killed. Injury and insult, right there."

"She's not dead yet," Body pointed out, though she didn't seem much more confident than her twin.

"I give it thirty seconds. If that." She glance to Eirin. "Well? Save her ass already!"

"Working on it," Eirin said. She was hunched over a control panel. Her fingers flew over keys, pressed buttons, flicked switches, and pulled levers. Head wondered if all that was actually accomplishing anything or if it was just for show. "Seeing how easily Rumia's shrugged off Kerrigan, I'm trying to extract Mokou directly. Unfortunately, Rumia's emitting a lot of chaotic energy, and it's screwing things up around her. We're trying to get a fix on Mokou, but there's a lot of interference."

"Look, forget the teleporters or whatever or you're trying to do, and do something obvious instead," Body snapped. "Mokou's about to get chopped into pieces, which means she'll either be fully dead or resurrected into a bunch of other Mokous. And I don't want _either _to happen."

"As you wish." Eirin abandoned the control panel and reached for a great big lever that stuck out from the floor. "Let's go for a literal extraction then."

…

It really figured. Mokou had gone out to try to talk things out instead of fighting for once, and she ended up butchered. That's what she got for not opening things up with violence.

Still, she wasn't dead yet, nor did she intend to end in such a manner. Before Rumia's appendages hit, a cocoon of superheated air surrounded Mokou. It didn't drive Rumia off, but it did make her flinch. That was all Mokou needed to leap away on all fours and fly to the other end of the courtyard.

"**No!" **Rumia cried. She swiped out with hands and tendrils alike, her fingers ripping and killing talons bursting out. She missed, and was not happy about it.

Especially when a steel hook attached to a long, long chain fell from the sky to smack her in the head and drive her face in the dirt.

Mokou paused. She tilted her head to one side and frowned. Well, _that _had been unexpected.

…

"Uh…" Head said, staring. "Well. That happened."

"Unintentionally," Eirin said, her storm-cloud eyes flashing in anger. "I was trying to snag Mokou."

"Still, it kind of worked out. Though next time, make it an anchor. No matter who it hits it'll be hilarious."

…

Rumia rose unsteadily to her feet. Wincing, she touched her throbbing head. She had no idea what had hit her, and she didn't care. Mokou was the only thing that mattered.

**Kill her.**

"It wasn't what you think."

Ah, there she was. Scowling, Rumia turned to see the immortal in question, standing on a pillar across the courtyard.

"I wasn't part of the group that hurt you," Mokou said. "I only saw the aftermath."

"**That right?" **Rumia pointed a finger at Mokou. Darkness swirled around her hand and a black comet shot out, trailing a long tail. Mokou flipped out of the way, but it proved unnecessary, as a granite block wrenched itself from the ground to put itself in the comet's path. The edge of Rumia's lip twitched. While she had expected betrayal, having the dream fully switch over to Mokou and presumably Kaguya's side was problematic. Clearly, there had been changes taking place that she had been unaware of.

Mokou kept flying, shouting over to Rumia as she went. "I tried to stop it! When I heard about what they were doing to you, I went there as fast as I could, but I was too late!"

**Kill her.**

"**How noble of you," **Rumia sneered. Her shadow swept out, skeletal shades reaching out to seize Mokou's shadow.

Again the dream came to Mokou's rescue. The Sun itself was yanked from its position and pulled around so that Mokou's shadow was flung out of reach. At the same time, something seized Rumia's back and yanked her backward.

The distraction was but temporary. Dark power surged out of Rumia, and the thing holding her disintegrated. She landed in a crouched and looked around. She tilted her chin up and sniffed the air.

**Kill her.**

There! Mokou was in high branches of a nearby tree. "I never hurt you, Rumia. But I might as well have. I should have been there for you, but I wasn't."

The dream's interferences were beginning to become a problem. Rumia considered simply laying the landscape to waste, but decided that doing so was unnecessary. If Mokou was going to warp her surroundings in her favor, then Rumia needed to respond in kind.

Rumia raised her hands, and a bitter wind started to blow.

**Kill her.**

_**Yeah, okay.**_

…

"What's going on?" Head said in agitation. She pointed at a screen displaying some kind of fluctuating bar graph. "What's that?" Whatever it was that was being recorded, it had decided to go insane.

"Foreign psychic energy," Eirin grunted as she wrestled with the controls. "Rumia's trying to exert her dominance. And, ah, doing a good job of it."

"Wait, she can do that?" Body said, aghast. "But it isn't even her dream!"

"Remember the tornadoes?"

A heartbeat went by, and then Body quickly said, "Okay, that's it. Get Mokou out and do it _now!"_

"Love to," Eirin said, her lip curling. "In fact, I've been trying to do just that. When I succeed, you'll be the first to know."

…

It had gone dark. Not pitch-black, but the Sun had been blotted out by rolling clouds, leaving little light behind. The wind had grown to a freezing gale and now shrieked in Mokou's ears as it tore at her clothes and hair. The forest bowed down to its fury. Above, cruel lightning cut through the clouds in brief patches of illumination, but no thunder followed.

It was a storm of death; there was no other way to describe it. And in the center of it all, untouched by the wind, was Rumia, who had become a black silhouette lit only by the twin globes of her eyes. Below, the crimson glow was reflected in her ghastly grin.

"**So you've picked up a few tricks. Made peace with yourself, have we? Finally gained control of that rebellious mind of yours? I suppose that means that in here, you are as God Himfreakingself." **Now that she wasn't frantically leaping around, Mokou could discern the differences in Rumia's voice as well. It was like there was another entity speaking along with her, overlaying her voice with its own: an entity that was older than the stars and colder than the black of space. **"Fantastic. Now, let me show you how **_**little **_**that means."**

Lightning ripped down through the sky and Eientei exploded. Mokou, who was having trouble already keeping her balance, was swept off her feet by the force of the blast, which was surprisingly cold. Her back slammed against the wall and she had barely enough time to cover herself before being pelted by debris.

"**And speaking of which, I do plan on knocking Mr. Capital-G off His perch one of these days," **Rumia said in a conversational tone. She examined her talons, as if checking her fingernails for chipping. **"Ambitious, I know, but they do say to aim high. But since that day is far off, I suppose I should get in all the practice killing gods as I can."**

The wall exploded, and Mokou was sent tumbling across the courtyard.

"**Oh, and by-the-by, out of all the things you could have said to make me **_**not **_**want to kill you, bringing up the day of my rebirth really does not make the list. Like, at all." **Rumia cackled as she strolled casually toward Mokou. She got down on one knee next to the fallen daughter of Fujiwara. **"Now, I will admit, I'm a little curious as to this supposed connection between us, and why you waited until now to bring it up. But you know what?" **She drew back one hand, index-talon outstretched and ready for the final blow. **"I think I can live with the mystery."**

…

"What are you doing?" Body squeaked. She frenziedly slapped Eirin on the shoulder. "Get her out already!"

Her tolerance strained, Eirin said through clenched teeth, "Head, if Body touches me _one more time, _you have my permission to knock her out cold."

"But she's about to kill Mokou!"

"I am _aware, _and am currently doing everything I can to prevent that! Now, if you'd be so kind-"

"Actually, I have a suggestion," Head said. Before the other two could ask her what she meant, she reached over and grabbed Eirin's microphone.

…

It felt good to be able to kill again, it really did. The only kills Rumia had gotten since being freed from her lesser self had all been imaginary. Well, there was Rin Satsuki, but she really didn't count, as Rumia technically hadn't been the one to kill her, and she just ended up coming back anyway. As such, Mokou was her first real kill since Yukari Yakumo had brought her down sixty years ago. And she was a hyper-immortal to boot! Clearly, Rumia was starting things off on a high note.

But before she could split open Mokou's stomach and pull out her intestines, she was again interrupted, this time by a fanfare of trumpets. Frowning, she scowled in the noise's direction. The storm she had summoned up should have driven off interruptions. So from what came this new irritation?

Then Kaguya's voice boomed through the air. "**DON'T YOU NEED MOKOU ALIVE IF YOU WANT TO LEAVE?" **

Rumia gaped in disbelief. She wasn't sure if it was Kaguya or the dream itself that was sending her this message, but the overwhelming obviousness of it rankled her. Subtlety was definitely not one of her strengths, and this offended even her.

What was worse, it was right. True, it was technically possible that killing Mokou would make Kaguya the sole dreamer, making her the only essential tool for Rumia's escape, but that was a gamble she did not prefer to make. Moreover, two immortals were better than one, and she really wouldn't mind have Phoenix Fire in her arsenal once she had finished her mental coup.

Sighing, Rumia lowered her hand. It might have been for the best, but it was still a real mood killer.

"**All right Mokou,"** she said as she grabbed the fallen immortal by the collar and yanked her off the ground.** "I've got good news and bad news. Good news? Your messy end has been indefinitely postponed. Bad news?"**

She slashed out, slicing off Mokou's legs below the knee. Mokou's eyes bulged, and her mouth opened as if to scream, but no sound came out.

"**You'd be real surprised as what you can live through," **Rumia said. She examined her talon. On it, Mokou's sizzling blood was congealing into a black, glue-like substance. **"But now that I've got to put up with you for a while longer, maybe now would be an appropriate time to tell me what in the hell you were doing in that field and why you never brought it up before."**

…

"Oh," Head said, in lieu of nothing else to say. "Well. That…could have gone a lot…worse."

No one said anything. Eirin just stood there with her face in her hands. Body just stared, her face expressionless.

"Well, okay, it could have gone better," Head said, a bit defensively. "But it could have gone worse! I mean, she is still alive."

Body's face twitched.

"And hey, mission accomplished, right? Rumia stopped trying to kill her, and now Mokou has a chance to talk to her! Erm, gasp pain-filled words in her direction, but it's still a start!"

…

The worst part wasn't the pain. Mokou could handle pain. She lived her life in pain. It was the _lack _of pain that scared her. She had just had her lower legs cut clean off; she knew full well what _that_ was supposed to feel like, and it was nothing like this. This wasn't pain. This wasn't shock. It was nothing. Maybe a slight tingle around mid-thigh, but below that? Nothing.

"**What you're not feeling now is called 'the taint,'" **Rumia explained. Her anger seemed to have dissipated, replaced by casual amusement. **"Bit of a side-effect from being touched by me. Possible to control with a little concentration, but that's no fun, so I don't like doing it when I don't have to."**

She dropped Mokou into the ash the garden had become. **"But enough about me. Why don't you talk about me for a while? What were you doing in that field? How do you know me?"**

Panting, Mokou pushed herself up onto her elbows. "Y-you don't remember?"

Shadows surrounded Rumia's face, but her hellishly burning eyes were all too visible, as was her demonic grin. **"Let's assume that I do not. Let's assume that I want to hear a story. So how about it, oh daughter of a dead and disgraced clan? What story do you have for me?"**

Mokou seized the tattered end of her left pant leg and pulled it up. The wound was clean, but the flesh all around it was dead. And not just dead, shriveled and turned black, like a fruit long since rotted.

Like those corpses in the field.

"**Come on, Mokou," **Rumia said. She scraped her talons across the blade of her sword, producing a grating screech. **"You came here to talk, yes? Here's your chance."**

Mokou grimaced and let her leg fall. Well, fine. It was her only chance. "All right, you want a story? Here's a story for you. Once upon a time there was someone whose whole life was devoted to death. She thought of nothing but killing, and when she couldn't kill, she died instead. Over and over, nothing but killing and dying. For over two hundred years, that was all she did."

"**Ooooh, I like this story already," **Rumia purred. **"But tell me: was she an exciting and outgoing visionary who took joy in spreading her passion to the multitudes, or was she a boring and stagnant lowlife who only focused on a single subject over and over again?"**

"But one day, things changed," Mokou said, ignoring the jab. "She made a mistake and pissed off the wrong person. And when she finally woke up, she had been taken in by a group of strangers who lived far away and knew nothing of the death she had caused."

"**Did they sell her? I would have."**

"The place she had woken up in turned out to be an orphanage-"

Rumia threw her head back and let out an ear-splitting cackle.

"-that was for children who had lost their parents to youkai attacks."

"**Are you serious?" **Rumia said, still laughing. She wiped away a tear of mirth. **"So, they were busboys, then?"**

That was such a non sequitur that Mokou had to stop her narration and stare at Rumia in confusion.

"**Get it?" **Rumia gibed. **"Because they were collecting the leftovers!" **She let out another shrieking laugh.

Mokou gritted her teeth as Rumia chortled at her own awful joke. "It was run by a woman named Satoko Yume, and called the Aoki Yume Children's Home."

Rumia stopped laughing. She looked down at Rumia and her brow furrowed. Taking heart, Mokou searched her burning eyes for some hint of recognition, some sign that the name had struck a nerve.

"**The who of the what now?" **Rumia said.

Mokou took a deep breath. "The Aoki Yume Children's Home."

"**Huh." **Rumia scratched her temple. How she did so without tearing the skin was a mystery. **"You know, that name **_**does **_**ring a bell. Not a big one, mind you. More like those dainty little things that make dogs drool or whatever."**

"It should," Mokou said. "Because that's where I met you."

…

Body fidgeted. "This is good, right?" she said. "Mokou's telling the story, which is what we wanted, right?"

Eirin gave her a withering look. "Certainly, if the story alone was our ultimate objective. Unfortunately, it is not, and the current circumstances are nothing short of counter-productive."

"Then do something!" Head snapped. "Send in an army! Make the earth swallow her up! Anything!"

"What part of Rumia's storm crippling our influence in that area did you not understand? It's all I can do to just keep the screens-"

She really should have known better. Even before she reached the end of her sentence, the static that had been clouding the screens finally prevailed. At the same time, the orange sphere let out a deep, basso moan before all images inside were swallowed up.

For a moment, everyone just stood and stared without saying anything. Then Body cleared her throat. "Ah, Eirin?"

"What?"

"Is she…dead?"

Eirin shrugged. "It's certainly possible, but I doubt it. Either way, that whole area's now off the grid."

"Right," Head said. She tossed what was left of her popcorn over her shoulder. "This nonsense has gone on long enough. Send in the fleet."

To Eirin's credit, though this was the first time any sort of fleet had been mentioned, she wasn't at all taken back by the request. She simply nodded and walked briskly to another control panel. As she did so, she asked, "Of course. Any specific…theme?"

"Yeah," Head said. "All of them."

…

"**Oh, **_**really **_**now," **Rumia intoned, her eyes widening. **"Oh my, what a **_**twist! **_**And I suppose I was…"**

Mokou nodded. "You were about nine, maybe ten at the time. Just a normal Human girl, you know? You liked playing with your friends, you liked playing pranks, you just liked having fun. A kid."

"**And my, look how I've grown," **Rumia said, rising slightly and gesturing down at herself. **"You know how adults are always telling kids that they can be whatever they wanted when they grow up? Well, I became a monster!'" **

"Yes, you did," Mokou said. "But how? What happened to you, Rumia?"

"**Eh, well, my memory's kinda fuzzy on that bit," **Rumia shrugged. **"In fact, pretty much everything before the cross is a big ugly blur. So maybe you can help connect the dots?"**

Mokou gaped. She hadn't been expecting this. "You mean, you really don't remember any of it? Not the house, or Satoko, or-"

Rumia sighed. **"Look, I don't know if you know this, but…hmmm, a day or two after I got nailed to a few pieces of wood and set on fire, I had the bad luck to run into a certain Yukari Yakumo and her pet shrine maiden, and they, for whatever reason, didn't seem to much care with certain lifestyle choices I had made." **She sat down next to Mokou and folded her legs. **"Well, long story sort, I got my ass kicked, my mind shattered, and my power sealed away. And when I finally pulled myself together, sixty years had gone by. So no, I don't remember. For me, life started in the fire and the pain. My earliest memory was of taking my revenge. So assuming this whole sob story actually has any truth to it, don't count on reviving my inner child."**

Mokou felt sick in a way that had nothing to do with the taint. So, Rumia's lack of recognition wasn't an act? But if that were true, what point was there in reaching out to her? The girl she was trying to find really was dead, and this…creature who wore her name really was the pitiless monster she acted like.

_No, _she told herself. _No, I remembered. I forgot too, but I remembered. I can make her remember too._

"**So, you gonna finish the story, or try to kill me with suspense?" **Rumia jabbed Mokou's side with her sword. A shock of cold shot through Mokou, making inhale sharply. **"Come on, how'd this lovely little fantasy come to an end?"**

"Y-you died," Mokou said through clenched teeth. "Or th-that's what I thought."

"**Duh," **Rumia drawled. ** "I sort of figured that part out, Mokou. Look, if you want to make it in this whole storyteller thing, learn to be specific."**

…

From the black of space they descended, ships of every conceivable size and make. From tiny one-man fighters to city-sized carriers to planet-destroying battleships to organic beasts, they came down in tight formations and seemingly disorganized swarms. There seemed to be no consistency in their styles either. Sleek, futuristic warships rubbed metaphorical shoulders with cartoonish constructions, horrific monsters with leathery wings and drooling maws, and wooden vessels designed for the ocean but still held aloft by balloons and spinning turbines.

But despite their vast numbers and overwhelming firepower, this was no well-organized navy come down to do battle with a fleet of comparable size. This was a suicide mission, a kamikaze run, directed toward a force of Nature. Supernaturally enhanced and directed by a will of Pure Evil, but a force of Nature nevertheless. Together, they swooped down at the vast canopy formed by Rumia's clouds and opened fired, filling the sky between with ordnance.

The storm was more than willing to reply in kind.

…

Several minutes later, Mokou fell back in exhaustion. Her story had come to an end. She had said all she had come to say. Now the ball was in Rumia's court.

Yippee.

As for the youkai (if that truly was what she was), Rumia seemed nonplussed. She raised an eyebrow, scratched the back of her neck, and said, **"So, that's it?"**

"Yes."

"**Huh. And just so we're clear, the reason why you took so long to bring this up was…"**

Mokou was starting to feel strangely lightheaded. Was she dying? "I didn't remember either. Didn't want to, after how it ended. Buried it."

"**Until your subconscious was so inconsiderate to throw it back in your face."**

"Yes."

**Well. Interesting. If it is true, that is. Not that it matters."**

"You don't believe me?"

"**I didn't say I don't believe you, I said it doesn't matter. I have no real way to check either way, so maybe you're telling the truth, maybe it's all just a snowjob, I don't know. Nor do I care." **Rumia stood to her feet and brushed the ash from her dress. **"Hate to break this to you, Mokou, but even if it's true that you knew cute little baby Rumia and used to tuck her in at night, that girl is gone. Dead. Never existed, as far as either of us are concerned. All that is left is her name and her body, and both now belong to me."**

Tears ran down Mokou's smudged cheeks, and her fingers clawed up handfuls of ash. She asked the question that, in hindsight, should have been asked from the beginning. "What are you?"

Rumia laughed. **"What am I? Well, there's a question I hear rather often. Let me answer it with one of my own: are you familiar with the cordyceps?"**

Bemused, Mokou shook her head.

"**It's a fungus, a parasite, one that latches onto invertebrate like ants, spiders, that sort of thing. Once it's infected a host, it literally takes over, replacing the host's tissues with its own, and even controlling its body." **Rumia spread her arms wide and did a little twirl, like a model flamboyantly strutting down the catwalk. **"That's sort of my deal. Once I sink my hooks into someone, they're mine. Well, not at first. They kind of have to say 'yes' first. But after that, it's over. They decay and I grow strong on what they left behind."**

Mokou tried to speak, but her throat was now parched and clogged with ash. She choked and coughed.

"**Now, no doubt you're wondering how such a sweet little girl could have fallen under the sway of someone such as I. Fortunately the answer to that is simple: she came into contact with this." **Rumia held up her sword, one hand under the hilt and one under the blade. She held it out to Mokou as if presenting it. **"How and where, I couldn't tell you. But once she touched it, it really was only a matter of time. She started hearing Its voice in her head, telling her to do…things. Things little girls ought not to think about doing. Before too long this would move onto things like influencing her moods and impulses. Making her crabbier, more prone to anger, that sort of thing."**

Mokou mustered up enough saliva to spit. "And th-then it takes over?"

Rumia tsked. **"Unfortunately, no. At stage, the most the sword can do is influence, not control. Sure, she'll feel the urge to give in and open the door, but nothing more. The final choice is…or as I should say, was…hers and hers alone. And seeing how I'm walking and talking and she isn't, one must conclude that her willpower wasn't anything special." **She sighed and shrugged. **"Though you shouldn't be too hard on her. No doubt something horrible and traumatic happened to her and pushed her over the edge. Desperation makes for a wonderful motivator." **She bared her ghastly teeth in a ghastly grin. **"No points for guessing what that something was."**

Then she reached down and lifted Mokou up by the collar. **"But still, I do appreciate you making the effort. It was very illuminating. Good talk."**

Then she slashed twice out with her sword. Mokou's head snapped back and she let out a breathless gasp. Both of her arms now ended just below the elbows, which were already starting to darken.

"**I think that's enough chit-chat for now." **Rumia's wings snapped open.** "Let's go find your find your friend, shall we?"**

With that, she leapt into the air and soared up into the storm, hauling Mokou's dismembered torso along with her.

…

Head and Body stared grim-faced as their aerial fleet tried to punch through the clouds. Thus far, their success had been minimal.

No, that's not right. Their success had not been minimal. In fact, there had been absolutely no success at all. Their weapons were having no effect whatsoever, and every time a ship made physical contact with the clouds, it would stop working and fall to pieces.

They had tried everything: lasers, missiles, bombs, magic, planet-killing weapons, even a giant vacuum cleaner. But, as Eirin had pointed out after that last attempt had failed, they were pitting imaginary firepower against a very real supernatural force. As active as Kaguya's imagination was, it just wasn't enough.

So they waited. Sooner or later, the clouds would part and Rumia would emerge. They just hoped that when they did, they would not find ignorance to be preferable to whatever was revealed.

…

Higher and higher they soared, moving ever closer to the rolling canopy of clouds. Rumia flew in slow and lazy circles, her dark wings spread wide and rarely beating the air.

Mokou was hauled along like a sack of flour. The shriveled stumps of her limbs hung lifelessly, and her head lolled back and forth. Her eyes were barely open, and unconsciousness lurked on the edges of her mind.

Part of her was aware that she should try to fight back. Even with her limbs gone, she still had the burning furnace of the Phoenix at her beck and call. One thought, and the deathly cold of Rumia's power would find itself under siege by a blazing inferno. As powerful as she was, Phoenixes were no lightweights. Maybe Mokou would be able to defeat her. Maybe even kill her.

She didn't though. She did nothing.

The clouds drew closer. In her partially conscious state, Mokou idly wondered if going through them would kill her. Those Zerg of Kaguya's hadn't fared well against those whirlwinds. And given how Rumia's power stunted her regeneration, it was quite possible that she was moments away from the Final Death.

Eh, whatever.

It was not to be, however. As they approached, the clouds simply opened up, forming a large circular hole all the way up. Daylight streamed down like a spotlight, and above Mokou could hear sounds of violence.

"**That party's been going strong for the last few minutes," **Rumia told her hapless package. She tossed Mokou up to grab her again by the back of her pants. **"Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Let's drop in and say hello."**

Her wings spread out to their full length and snapped back to flatten against her body. Rumia shot straight up through the boiling, lightning-lit tunnel. Mokou watched the grey walls pass by through half-lidded eyes and wondered just how thick the clouds were. Judging by how fast they were going and how they still hadn't reached the top, it had to be half a kilometer at least.

And then they were through. Rumia and Mokou emerged into the sunlight to find themselves in the middle of a war. Several beings and crafts, none of which Mokou recognized, seemed to be waging back against the storm itself. Flying creatures and great airships were trying to pierce their way through the clouds, only to be struck down by blasts of lighting or sucked up by one of the several black whirlwinds that spouted up out of the cloud canopy.

Rumia stopped her ascent to hover in place, her wings flapping lazily. **"Beautiful isn't it?" **She switched her grip to the back of Mokou's collar and pulled her up. From there, she grabbed the back of Mokou's head with her other hand pulled it back so she could take in the full view. **"Look at it. So desperate to get through and save your sorry hide. Or just kill me. Either way, one must admire their tenacity, though I suppose it's easier to throw one's life away when you never really had one to begin with." **

Mokou watched the battle for a few moments before closing letting her eyes close.

"**Uh-uh." **Rumia gave Mokou a hard shake. **"C'mon, stay with me now."**

With that, she let the arm holding Mokou fall. **"Kaguya!" **she called out. **"Game's up, Princess. You want me, right? You want Mokou?" **Mokou's body flopped as Rumia spread her arms wide.** "Well, here we are! Hit me with your best shot, or come out to talk. Though I'm warning you, every moment you continue playing war will erode my patience. And if it's gone entirely, I just might be tempted to take it out on our mutual friend here." **She jiggled Mokou's body. **"So if I were you, I'd put the toys away and come out so we can discuss this like adults."**

The fighting stopped immediately. Kaguya's fleet ceased their advance and rose back into the sky while the tornadoes retracted into the storm. Soon Rumia and Mokou were alone in the sky, but even then the Lunarian neglected to appear.

Rumia looked to the left and to the right. Then she sighed and said, **"Not amusing, Kaguya. Stalling will not get you anywhere." **She drew Mokou close to her chest and pressed the tip of her talon against her captive's neck. **"Nor will it help her. Tick-tock, Lunarian. Tick-tock."**

The sun shone brightly. A gentle breeze blew. Beyond that, nothing.

"**Tch," **Rumia muttered. **"All right, look: I know you hate Mokou and Mokou hates you back, but I also know that she's your rival, and no one else's. Do you really want her end to come at my hands? Because after all those years of fighting, it seems to be quite the waste to have someone else deliver the final blow." **She applied the tiniest bit of pressure, and the tip pierced Mokou's skin. The taint wasn't unleashed, but it made Mokou bleed. **"And make no mistake, I can kill her. I can turn her into a shriveled shell, send her mind plunging into the void from which there is no return. And I wonder, seeing how your subconscious minds are currently conjoined, will there be any bleed over effect? Any repercussions? Would you like to find out what happens to your mind when hers dies? Because I have got to admit, I'm kind of-"**

"_Oh, will you just SHUT UP already?"_

Rumia blinked in surprise. Then she grinned, shook her head, and turned to face the booming voice's source.

It was Kaguya. Not all of her, but there was still quite a lot of Kaguya nonetheless. Specifically, her giant head floated in the air, easily the size of a house. Horse-sized eyes were narrowed with anger and glared down at the youkai that had demanded her presence.

"**Well," **Rumia said, her talon still pressed against Mokou's neck. **"When I called on you to face me, I didn't expect your answer to be quite so literal."**

"_I said shut up, Rumia," _Kaguya snapped. _"You wanted to talk? Well, here I am. Let's talk."_

"**Are you really? Because it hasn't been that long since I saw you last, and back then you were considerably smaller and had a great many more moving parts."**

"_You think I'm dumb enough to get in range of those meathooks of yours? I'm not Mokou. What do you want?"_

Rumia grinned and licked her lips. **"Ah, progress. And you know damned well what I want. It's the same think I've wanted since I staggered out of the ocean. I want **_**out, **_**Kaguya. I want out of this shithole and into Rin Satsuki's mind. And you're going to help me."**

For her part, Kaguya looked unimpressed. _"And why should I do that?"_

In answer, Rumia held Mokou before her. **"Do you want to end up like her? Because I can hurt you, Kaguya. Hurt you in ways you can't even imagine. I don't even need to touch you to do it."**

"_I've been playing the Game of Death for a long time, Rumia. When it comes to pain, there is very little I cannot imagine."_

"**Oh, so certain are you. Tell you what: let's put that theory to the test. Because I bet I can hurt you in a manner that is not only completely new, but also dwarfs everything this little twit has put you through." **Rumia withdrew her talon from Mokou's neck and held it right over her eyes. **"I can open your eyes, Kaguya. And I think I'll start by opening hers."**

"_Wait," _Kaguya said before Rumia could stab into Mokou's eye sockets. _"All right. Fine. You win. Tell me what you want us to do."_

"**That's better." **Rumia lowered her arm. **"And you can start by having all three of us go to the godsdamned center of your subconscious and opening the way out. Once that happens, I'll be on my way and leave you two to be miserable together."**

"_Well, that sounds really nice and all," _Kaguya drawled. _"Except you've already been proven as a liar. Forgive me, but I don't see any particular reason to trust your word."_

Rumia laughed. **"Ah, some things just never change, do they? But I assure you: I have no wish to harm either of you." **A pause, and she amended, **"Well, no, I want to hurt you both very much. But I want to hurt everybody, so it's not like it's personal. Well, not very personal. No, offense, but you are very annoying. But even so, the one I **_**really **_**want is Rin Satsuki. You're just the stepping stone to getting to her, and I would be quite content to leave you alone if that's what it takes." **

"_Still doesn't tell me why you wouldn't just burn the place on your way out."_

"**Because doing so would be counter-productive," **Rumia answered promptly. **"See, I don't seek to avenge myself against Rin Satsuki, I seek to replace her. I will claim her power as my own, and seeing how your power is currently her power, it'll come with the package. If I were to drop that match, your mind disintegrates, and your power it gone. Immortality and Phoenix Fire are too valuable to just waste on pettiness."**

Kaguya's oversized face twisted with disgust. _"You're…"_

"**What? Insane? Not really. Evil? Quite possibly. Going to gut you two to the barest minimum unless you give me what I want? Most definitely. I know death far more intimately than you ever could. I know how far I can go and still keep you alive. Only thing is, if I do go that far, you will be incapable of basic arithmetic. Do we understand each other?"**

They held each other's gaze for a time, as if trying to gauge the other's resolve. Rumia must have won, because Kaguya broke the stare first.

"_Fine," _she sighed. _"Like we have a choice."_

Then Kaguya's giant head dissolved into hundreds of floating dots of lights which swirled around and came together to form a humanoid shape. It flared brightly for a moment, and Kaguya herself appeared.

"All right, asshole," she snarled. "Let's get this over with."

"**Yes. Let's." **Rumia leered at her. **"And hey, if it makes you feel any better, at least when Gensokyo is ashes, you'll still be alive and well in your private-"**

Then she shut her mouth and stared at Kaguya in shock. She looked down to see the tip of a humming green blade protruding from her chest.

Then something hit Mokou hard enough tear her from Rumia's grip and just kept going. "I got her!" Kaguya screamed. Not the one who had been conducting the negotiations, the one now carrying Mokou over her shoulder. "Go, go, go, go!"

At her word, Kaguya's strange fleet simply materialized around Rumia. And, as one, the foremost line opened fire.

…

Treachery, Rumia had expected. A sneak attack, she had anticipated. She had been dealing with Kaguya, after all. Such things were simply a matter of course.

So it was a little embarrassing that she had been caught flatfooted like she had. But it really wasn't her fault. She had seen Kaguya right in front of her. Not only that, she had smelled her and, more importantly, _felt _her presence. How was she to know that a _second _Kaguya would simply pop into being behind her and jab a laser sword right through her?

Well, she supposed that the same could have been accomplished with a run-of-the-mill dream assassin. She really should have been more on her guard. But what was done was done. Now she had to concentrate on blowing this stupid flying navy to pieces, finding Kaguya and Mokou all over again, and pick up from where she had left off. And while she was at it, she could figure out w_hy in the blue hell there was two Kaguyas! _That had been no imaginary copy; of that she was certain. The smell had been the same, as was their auras. Somehow the Lunarian had managed to clone herself, which meant…Rumia wasn't sure, actually, but headaches were guaranteed to be involved.

However, that little problem was going to have to wait until she had dealt with Kaguya's toys. Thanks to her stunned state, the first few shots got through. What was more, they hurt.

But as annoying as these pests were, they really weren't much more than stinging insects. And Rumia had one hell of a flyswatter at her disposal.

Her storm, which still swirled below her, erupted upward. Her body was enveloped with its soothing coolness, which helped alleviate the burning sensation. What was more, the psychic energy required to maintain the fleet's existence was torn apart.

And just like that, they were gone.

Sighing, Rumia touched where she had been stabbed. Ouch, that hole was going to take some time to heal. In that regard, she envied her prey. Having such recuperative abilities surely had to be useful. She looked forward to claiming them for her own.

Though speaking of which, maybe reacting so aggressively against the fleet had been a bit hasty. She hadn't exactly seen Kaguya and Mokou clear the area safely. Bringing up the storm like that could have killed them on the spot.

Rumia sighed. She really was getting careless. This really was a bad habit with her. Give into her impulses a little, and the next thing she knew nothing was left but a pile of corpses. She was just going to have to keep herself under tighter control. It would not do slip up and screw everything up by killing her quarry. Well, at least if she accidentally bumped off Kaguya, there was now a spare…

Then Rumia's eyes widened. Say now, _that _was an intriguing possibility. Granted, she would have to double-check to make sure it was safe, but if so…hmmm…

Grinning, she sniffed around until she had picked up Kaguya and Mokou's scent. From there, she extended her wings and started to fly.

…

Mokou had seen better days.

Her attempts to reach out to Rumia had been an utter failure. Her arms and legs were amputated below the elbows and knees. She was inflicted with some kind of curse that prevented her from healing. And now she was being slung over Kaguya's shoulder like a bag of potatoes while being hotly pursued by someone who probably found their immortality to be cute.

If there was one comfort to be had, it was that she barely conscious. Full awareness that she now owed Kaguya her life would just be too much to take.

Unfortunately, as far gone as she was, she was still able to make out snippets of conversation between Head and Body.

"…last too long…"

"…Eirin, what's taking you…"

"…get us out of…"

"…ah hell…screwed so…"

Then she was dropped unceremoniously onto the hard ground. She moaned and tried to sink deeper into the darkness.

However, several hard slaps to the face quickly divested her of that course of action.

"Come on, Stumpy. Wake up!" Head shouted as she smacked Mokou back to full awareness.

"Huh, wha…" Mokou muttered. She blinked several times and squinted. The best she could figure, Head and Body were standing over her, both of them looking worried. Beyond that, she couldn't tell, though that was less due to clinging fuzziness than the thick, swirling fog that had enveloped them.

"Yeah," Head said. "More of Rumia's damned weather. This stuff doesn't kill, thank the gods, but it does keep the help away. Which means we need you up and mobile. We'll need all the firepower we can get."

Mokou grimaced. "Can't…heal…taint…"

"I know. Body?"

There was the sound of a _crack, _a sharp _hiss, _followed by a steady humming noise. Body was holding up what looked like a glowing green stick. "Yeah, better do this fast before this stops working too. Okay Mokou, gonna have to do some quick surgery." She knelt down next to Mokou. "This is gonna hurt like hell, but you'll thank me later." Then she pressed the stick against Mokou's forearm, right above the taint.

She had not been exaggerating. The stick-thing burned right through flesh and bone, and Mokou welcomed the searing pain. It was far better than the deathly frostbite of the taint.

"We figure that with our army being all kinds of useless, you're our best bet at coming out of this alive," Body explained as she cut away the taint. "Breaking down dreams is one thing, but we're willing to bet she won't do so well against Phoenix Fire."

"Yeah, and speaking of which, were we right?" Head asked. "Is she the kid?"

Mokou flinched as the final limb came off. "No. And yes." To her immense relief, once the taint was out of the way, her arms and legs started regenerating almost immediately.

Head closed her eyes and muttered something. "Okay," she said. "Explain."

"I mean it's her in name and body only. Something terrible moved in after she got crucified. That's what we've been dealing with." Mokou's hands and feet started to reform.

"Oh." Head looked disgusted. As for Body, she winced in sympathy.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Yeah." Mokou said up and rubbed her wrists with her still-stumpy fingers. "Me too."

"Well, at least it simplifies things," Head said. She grabbed her fist and cracked her knuckles. "Only thing left to do is kick her ass."

Then something whined and choked. Body's glowing stick-thing sputtered a couple of times before winking out of existence.

"Well," she said as everyone stared at her. "That was the worst possible omen we could have had." She tossed the small metal handle away.

"**You don't know the half of it," **Rumia said as she emerged from the fog.

Everyone started moving at once. Mokou leapt into a crouch, flames running up and down her arms. Head whirled around, her fists crackling with lightning. As for Body, she pulled out a short, slender stick and jabbed it at Rumia.

"Avada Kadavera!" she cried, sending out a bolt of green energy.

As for Rumia, she simply deflected the attack with a lazy swing of her sword. Then she pointed at them and said, **"Yeah, no."**

The fog suddenly thickened into a thin, black cylinder around each of them. They could still see out, but they couldn't leave. The twins froze, staring at their prisons with looks of naked horror. Mokou sympathized, as she had already felt the effects of Rumia's power and was in no hurry to feel it again. Unfortunately, that meant she wasn't going anywhere.

Even through the dark smoke, Rumia could still be seen as she sighed heavily. **"So. 'Sup, guys? Together again, eh?" **She folded her arms over her chest. **"Not quite the reunion I pictured, but hey, you know how plans get derailed."**

"Let us go, Rumia," Body snarled.

"**Aw, how cute. She thinks she can make demands. No. I am not letting you go. I'm having a really lousy day, and have had it up to here with playing these stupid games. So, let's start things off with the obvious question." **The burning orbs of her eyes bore straight into Body's. **"Why and how are there two of you now?" **

For once, neither of the Kaguya twins responded with jokes. "Uh, well, you remember back when Mokou got her head cut off, and you said she might do the starfish thing?" Body said.

Rumia's eyes widened. **"You cannot be serious."**

"Nope. Turns out you were right. Who knew, huh?" Body let out a nervous laugh.

While Rumia's attention was focused on the twins, Mokou was examining her prison. She had no doubt that the touch of the smoke was fatal. However, she remembered what Head said about Phoenix Fire possibly being able to match Rumia in power. Granted, that theory was still untested, but at the moment, Mokou had nothing to lose. Keeping a wary eye on Rumia, she surrounded her hand with a blue fireball and extended it toward the wall of the cylinder.

Fortunately, Rumia didn't even notice. **"So, that's it then? There are now two Kaguya Houraisans? It's not like one of you is a clone, or a dream-copy?"**

Head swallowed noisily. "Er, which answer is less likely to get us killed?"

That made Rumia chuckle. **"Doesn't really matter, it was rhetorical. Hold still for a moment, please."**

"Why?" Body said in alarm. "What are you doing?"

"**Just getting a feel of the situation…Hmmm, well I'll be damned all over again!" **Rumia laughed. **"Well, how about that! You two really are completely identical!"**

Mokou's fire touched the wall of her prison. The fire and smoke seemed to resist each other. Mokou could feel the fireball losing some of its intensity, while the smoke started to break apart where she touched it.

"Uh, thanks?" Head said. "We kinda figured that out already."

"**I'm sure you did. But I needed to check it for myself. Wouldn't want to do something I'd regret later."**

Mokou looked up sharply. Oh no, this couldn't be leading where she thought it was leading.

It was. Rumia held up her sword. **"See, Kaguya always got on my nerves. And I only really need one to open the gate."**

"Wait, no!" Body cried, holding her hands out. Mokou frantically threw all the fire she had at the wall.

It was too late. Rumia thrust her sword right through Body's cylinder and cut right through her heart.

…

_Well. That's gonna leave a mark._

_Anyway, next chapter will finish off the story entirely. It's gonna be a little longer than the previous two._

_Until next time, everyone. _


	14. A Song of Shadow and Flame, Part 3

A Song of Shadow and Flame, Part 3

When Head and Body had playacted Body's death some hours prior, it had been overacted and overly dramatic, to the point where slow violins would not have been out of place.

Her actual death was none of these things. There were no comforting last words, there were no pleas for hope and perseverance, there were no theatrics coming from her at all.

She just died.

Head screamed as her twin turned black and shriveled up like a prune. Grinning, Rumia yanked her sword out and let the desiccated corpse fall.

"**Hey Kaguya, you know how you were always saying I was going to stab you in the back?" **she taunted Body's dead face. **"Turns out you were right! You just got your entry points reversed."**

Head started screeching obscenities and promising to deliver unfathomable measures of pain and suffering unto her twin's murderer. This seemed to amuse Rumia, who continued to grin as she turned her attention toward the remaining Kaguya. She opened her mouth, likely to mock the imprisoned girl, but she never got the chance. Because as it turned out, her smoke could be overwhelmed by a sufficient amount of Phoenix Fire.

Glowing like a comet and screaming like a banshee, Mokou hurtled herself straight at Rumia. The murderous youkai glanced in her direction and her mouth dropped in shock. She whirled out of the way far quicker than should have been possible, and even then only barely avoided being bowled over.

"**The hell?" **she said as she hopped back, putting distance between herself and Mokou. **"How'd you get out?"**

In answer, Mokou simply conjured up a sphere of blue fire between her hands and threw it at Rumia's head.

Rumia thrust her sword forward to meet the attack. The fireball burst upon contact and writhed around the sword's blade. The metal turned shook and turned red of a moment, but the fire was overcome and absorbed into the blade.

"**I see," **Rumia said as she examined the smoking blade. **"Well now, Phoenix Fire seems to be a bit more potent that I had-Yipe!" **She broke off her monologue and ducked as Mokou came after her with a flurry of flaming punches, each one aimed at her face.

"**Damn, you are pissed off," **Rumia said as she continued to back up, ducking and dodging as Mokou rained one blow after another at her. **"What's wrong? I mean, I did you a big favor! You've always wanted to see Kaguya die, haven't you?"**

"Shut up," Mokou seethed.

"**No? Oh, I'm sorry. Did I kill-steal? Tell you what, you can have the other one."**

"Shut! Up!"

"**No to that too, eh? Well, fine."**

Ducking a kick, Rumia spun around and drove the heel of her foot into Mokou's stomach. Air was forced from her lungs as she was lifted right off her feet and sent sprawling several meters away.

"**You know, I should probably tell you this now so you don't waste your time," **Rumia called over to her. **"You can't win. I mean it. That's not just me trying to put you down. You are outclassed in every possible way. So why don't you save yourself the trouble and just give me what I want? I'll be gone and out of your hair, and we'll all be happier."**

"Don't listen to her!" Head screamed from within her cylinder.

"Wasn't planning on it," Mokou growled. She drew her legs back and sprung back to her feet.

Rumia tsked. **"Mokou, look around you. Every moment you stay in this fog, your life drains away. Not a lot, but soon you'll start to feel slower and weaker. And with one thought, I can thicken it until you choke on your own dissolving lungs. Face it, Firebird. This is my world, and there is no escape."**

That just angered Mokou further. She bore no love for the dream, it was true. Her every moment here had so far been a nightmare, in every sense of the word. But that didn't change the fact that as much as she hated her mental prison, it was still made from stuff taken from her mind and Kaguya's. Their very thoughts, memories, and emotions had gone into its creation. Who then was Rumia to claim any sort of ownership?

"No, it's not," Mokou growled. She clenched her fists, and flame sang through her veins. "It's ours, and you're just a trespasser!" With that, Mokou dropped to one knee and slammed her fist to the ground. She called upon all the Phoenix Fire she could and sent it into the earth, where Rumia's fog couldn't reach.

Free from Rumia's influence, the fire grew. And it spread. Very, very quickly.

The only warning Rumia got was a slight rumbling under her feet. Putting two and two together, she tried to fly out of the way, but there was nowhere to go that Mokou couldn't reach. The first eruption scorched her leg. Rumia screamed in agony and tumbled back down. As soon as she landed, a second geyser of fire erupted right beneath her.

Rumia burned like a torch.

As Rumia's howls filled the air, Mokou took off toward Head's prison. "Sorry!" she cried as she caused fire to engulf the black cylinder. Head burned as well, but she at least could be fixed.

Mokou charged through the pillar of fire, scooping up Head's roasting body as she went. The Lunarian princess was fortunately already dead; otherwise, Mokou would be getting a real earful right about now. She felt a pang of regret at having to leave Body's corpse behind, but there was no time to go after her.

And so they shot straight up through the fog, Rumia's agonized screams following them all the way.

_Please end soon, _Mokou silently begged the fog. _Please end soon. Come on, come on, come on…_

They were out! Mokou burst into the sunlight and fresh air. Panting with relief, she called out, "Eirin! Get us out of here _now!"_

Her cries were answered. The world warped around them, taking them away from the fog, away from Rumia.

…

"**Ah, ah, ah!" **Rumia cried as she flopped and rolled on the ground in a desperate attempt to smother the flames. But despite her best attempts, they wouldn't snuff out. They just kept burning and burning and burning-

_Enough! _She reached out to the surrounding fog and had it converge on her, wrapping around her body like a blanket and growing ever thicker. The fire put up an admirable fight, and for a moment it seemed that it was going to consume the fog and win. But, at last, the flames were suffocated.

Snarling and hissing, Rumia rose up onto her trembling legs. Her whole body was seared. It didn't hurt as bad as when that little bitch Rin Satsuki had poured nine years' worth of anger, fear, hatred, and insanity straight down her throat, but it was close. What was it with her and getting burned anyway? Despite the horrific circumstances surrounding her genesis, she didn't fear fire; in fact, she didn't fear anything. It was like her capacity to feel fear had been surgically removed. But even so, she sure as hell didn't like fire, and judging by how often it tried to get her, it didn't like her either.

Rumia started walking. As she moved forward, she brought the fog in thicker, turning it into a true cloud as she tried to soothe the burning away. Mokou was going to pay. Oh yes, Mokou was going to pay dearly.

…

Eirin had come through. As soon as Mokou had burst through the fog, she had transported both her and Head back to the fortress. An impressive feat, considering that both the people from whose subconscious she had been born were dead at the time.

And therein lay the problem.

Head had returned to life in short order. Now she sat on her haunches near the door, staring empty-eyed at nothing. She clutched a blanket around her shoulders and rocked gently back and forth on her ankles. It was clear that she wasn't going to be saying anything for a while.

Just as well, as Eirin was more than happy to pick up the slack.

"Dead," she snarled as she paced back in forth. "Fully dead. Not temporarily, permanently. Finally, something capable of overcoming the Hourai Elixir has appeared, and its first victim so happened to be the elixir's mother."

"I know," Mokou said hollowly. She watched Head out of the corner of her eye. "We're in a lot-"

"No," Eirin said, shoving a finger into Mokou's face. _"You _do not get to talk right now. This whole debacle is your fault. She was murdered while trying to rescue you, from your stupid plan! _Talk _to Rumia! Try to reach out to her! Well, where did _that _idea get us, huh? Where did it get _her?"_

Mokou looked down. "I'm sor-"

Eirin smacked her hard across the face. "Don't you _dare _apologize," she seethed. The Lunarian doctor's body was literally shaking with rage. "You…you don't have the right to…How could you even _pretend _to be sorry when you don't even understand what just happened?"

Mokou stared blankly at her. "What?"

"Body died," Eirin said, her voice a dangerous monotone. "She _died _back there, Mokou. Rumia killed her good and proper. I felt it happen."

Now Mokou was growing confused. "I know that, I saw it-"

"Sun, moon, and stars, she still doesn't get it," Eirin lamented. "Think, Mokou. _Think. _Head and Body were not copies of the original Kaguya, they _were _the original Kaguya. Her consciousness was divided, and the two halves became two complete wholes. They were each fully her." She paused for several seconds before saying, "So you just watched Kaguya Houraisan die."

Mokou got it then. Three hundred years she had pursued Kaguya: hunted, fought, killed, and tormented her in almost every way imaginable. Kaguya had been one of the few constants in her life, and certainly the most central. Despite their mutual hatred, Mokou had simply assumed that Kaguya was always going to be there. And now, just as they had finally buried the hatchet and made peace, Kaguya had been killed.

Her stomach soured. Mokou covered her mouth and doubled over. She felt sick, violently sick. Kaguya was dead. Granted, she still lived. She was right there, in the corner. But even so…Kaguya was dead.

Oh gods.

As Mokou fought to keep from vomiting (and what would come up if she did?), Eirin glowered down at her without a hint of sympathy. "And so the light dawns," she said, venom dripping from every word. "This must be a wonderful day for you. Finally, you saw your enemy take the final fall. And not only that, it came about as a direct result of your actions." She slowly clapped her hands together, each one echoing through the corridors of the fortress. "One down, one to go. You must be so proud."

Slowly, painfully, Mokou managed to get her heaving under control and straighten up. "I…I didn't want this…" she whispered.

"Don't lie."

"I didn't."

"I said don't lie. You might have been able to lie to her, maybe you can lie to yourself, but I see right through you, Mokou."

Mokou shook her head. "I didn't. Maybe before, but not now. Not like that."

"Oh?" Eirin's mouth twisted into a cruel smile. "Then perhaps you regret that it was Body that took the fall. After all, she was the one who had come to have sympathy for you, the one who was starting to show you kindness. If she had lived, if it had been her mind to assert control over Kaguya, it would have been so much easier for you, wouldn't it? You would have liked that, wouldn't you? For her to have lived…and me to have died."

Wait, what? Now Mokou was thoroughly confused. She didn't like this manifestation of Eirin, true, but killing her wouldn't make any difference. She had tried that once already. Besides, once they were out, Eirin would stay behind, nothing more than an imaginary image. What threat did she pose?

Heedless of Mokou's bewilderment, Eirin continued to rant at her. "You would have loved that, wouldn't you? You were probably planning that the whole time, just to get me out of the way! But you screwed up, and Rumia killed the wrong one. Well, now what are you going to do, Mokou? You're stuck with me, and we're still no closer to finding our way out!"

"What in the hell are you going on about?" Mokou demanded.

And then Eirin changed. Her body lost cohesion and became blurry and semi-transparent, and over it Kaguya's form started to come into focus.

"_What's next, Mokou?" _the Eirin-Kaguya demanded, their two voices overlapping and becoming disoriented. _"You're going to tie me up and send me to her as an offering? Would that make you happy?"_

"Whoa," Mokou said, staring. "That's, uh, that's new."

She shot a glance toward Head. The remaining Kaguya twin was still in her catatonic state, eyes dead and face blank. Was she the cause of this? Mokou didn't see how it was possible.

Wait a minute, that had to be it. Time and time again, they had been reminded that everyone they encountered were either manifestations of their subconscious minds or figments of their imaginations. And as likelife as people like Eirin or Keine were, they were no different. For all her pretensions at self-awareness, Eirin was a part of Kaguya.

As such, who was to say she couldn't speak for Kaguya when Kaguya was unable to do it for herself?

But as interesting as that might be, Mokou was not interested in dealing with an emissary. Pushing her way past the unstable figment, she walked over to Head and knelt down in front of her.

"Hey," she said softly. "Head."

There was no response. Head continued to rock back and forth,

Mokou tried again. "Head," she said again, louder this time.

Head didn't seem to notice that Mokou was there.

"Head!"

Nothing.

All right, enough of this. The nickname thing wasn't necessary anymore anyway. Mokou clapped her hands right in front of the blanked-out girl and shouted, "KAGUYA! Snap out of it!"

Kaguya flinched. She blinked, and her eyes focused on Mokou. "Huh?"

"Kaguya," Mokou said again. "You gotta stay with me here. We're not done. I need your help."

Kaguya's chin trembled. "She's dead," she said, her voice cracking.

Mokou swallowed. "I know. And that sucks. But Rumia's still out there. And I need your help to bring her down.

Kaguya squeezed her eyes shut. Tears prickled along the edges. "Your fault," she hissed. "It's all…She _trusted _you. And you got her killed."

"Maybe," Mokou allowed. "Maybe you're right. But I'm not the one that stabbed her through the heart. Rumia was. And she's still walking free, Kaguya. Are you just going to shut down and let her get away with that?"

Kaguya said nothing, but her eyes opened just enough to glower.

"Three hundred years we've been fighting, and you've never forgiven a slight," Mokou pressed. "Every time I hurt you, you made damned sure to hurt me just as much. And nothing I ever did to you stuck. Now someone's hurt you more than I ever could. So what are you going to do about it?"

Kaguya's lips curled away from her teeth, and something not unlike a snarl rumbled out of her throat. Then, still without speaking, she stood up, the blanket falling away from her shoulders. She moved purposefully toward one of the control panels and started doing…something.

Mokou followed her. "So, are you with me?" she said.

Though she still didn't look at her former rival, Kaguya nodded. "Yes. But this time, I call the shots. I make the plan. Got it?"

Mokou hesitated for several seconds before reluctantly nodding. "All right. What did you have in mind?"

"You remember Eirin's original plan? About letting Rumia and Rin Satsuki duke it out while we wait here?"

Mokou started to get a bad feeling. "Yeah?"

"Well, it's something like that." Kaguya threw a switch, several red lights turned on. What that meant, Mokou could only guess. "Except we're not letting Rumia go after Rin Satsuki. We're going to feed Rumia to Rin Satsuki." She gave Mokou a sidelong glance. "She's going to get what she wants, sure, but she won't exactly be in good shape when she gets it."

Well, _that _was disheartening to hear. Even in guaranteeing Rin Satsuki's victory, they still would be no closer to getting out, and it wouldn't be difficult for Rin Satsuki to backtrack her way to them. Mokou still knew very little about the creature that held them hostage, but based on what she had been told it sounded like she was quite the monster.

But then, who really cared? Like she had pointed out earlier, she had probably lived too long as it was. And if they could bring down the monster that had killed Body and Rumia, _her _Rumia, maybe it would be worth it.

"Fine," Mokou said. "Let's do that. But before we do-"

Then a bell sounded, and the panel started flashing green. Kaguya frowned down at it. "What's this?" she asked.

Taking a step forward, Eirin (who didn't seem to be acting as Kaguya's advocate anymore) said, "We're receiving a transmission."

Kaguya's hardened. Hate flashed in her eyes. "Oh, are we? Let me guess: it's her."

"Of course. Shall I patch her through?"

Several seconds ticked by, and then Kaguya gave a brief nod.

The glowing orange sphere pulsed, and Rumia appeared in its center. To Mokou's immense satisfaction, she was still covered with some very nasty looking burns. However, she didn't seem to be much bothered by the pain. In fact, she was smiling.

"_**Hey guys," **_she said, waving. _**"I know you can hear me. And let me just say, it was pretty rude of you to just run off and leave me alone. I mean, we had finally just all gotten back together, and you had to go abandon me again? I'm hurt, guys. I really am."**_

Before Mokou or Kaguya could snap back with something scathing, Rumia perked up and said, _**"But hey, it's not all bad. I made a new friend! Want to meet her?"**_

She held up her right hand. On it was a humanoid skull, one with bits of shriveled flesh and hair still clinging to it. _**"Her name's Dead Kaguya! I call her DK for short. Say hi to the assholes, DK." **_Rumia then spoke out of the corner of her mouth, making her voice sound high-pitched and scratchy. She used her thumb to move the skull's lower jaw up and down. _**"Hi to the assholes, DK! I'm a thousand-year-old crybaby with severe daddy issues who still plays with kids' toys. And me and my best buddy Rumia were just talking about how great it is that I'll soon be getting two new sisters!"**_

Rumia went back to using her normal voice. _**"Now, now, DK," **_she said, affectionately patting the skull on the forehead._** "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I can't turn them into little skeletons too. But good news! I can lobotomize them and send them into a persistent vegetative state! That's the next best thing, right?"**_

Then the strip of flesh keeping the skull's jaw in place gave way, and the lower half fell to the ground. Rumia blinked in surprise. _**"Oh. Oops. Guess I should have been watching for that."**_

Then she shrugged and tossed Body's skull over her shoulder. _**"But seriously guys, how long are you going to give me the runaround? Have you forgotten that I am still surrounded by your subconscious minds? I don't need to actually be in the same room with you to hurt you. The way I see it, if I tear up enough of the landscape, it'll translate into permanent mental trauma." **_She paused long enough for that to sink in. _**"You have one hour. Don't keep me waiting."**_

Her image vanished.

Kaguya, Mokou, and Eirin all stared grimly at where Rumia's taunting visage had been. Kaguya's hands squeezed into shaking fists, and she murmured to Eirin, "Can she really do that? Hurt us by hurting the dream?"

"I do not know," Eirin said. "But given what she's been shown to be capable of, I do not wish to risk it."

"Neither do I." Kaguya closed her eyes, whispered something under breath, and inhaled a deep breath. Then she let it out and said, "Okay. We have one hour to come up with a way to bring her down. Let's get to work."

As she and Eirin fell into a hushed conversation about the sorts of way they could send Rumia to Hell, Mokou walked over to one of the control panels. She stared blankly down at the rows of buttons, switches, and other science-y doodads. Spending time around Eirin meant that she at least knew what most of those things were called and the mechanics of working them, but beyond that she didn't have the slightest idea how to make the control panel as a whole do what she wanted.

She remembered what Head had said earlier, about how the controls didn't have a set function and instead responded to the user's desires. Working off of that, Mokou pressed a couple of buttons at random.

It worked. A small screen emerged from the panel, and Keine's face appeared in it. Mokou's friend looked drawn and haggard, as she often did while coming off of a full moon. Furthermore, she looked worried. Mokou had a pretty good idea why.

But before Mokou could open her mouth, Keine shook her head and said in a low voice, _"Not here. Meet me out in the corridor."_ A moment later, her image winked out.

Mokou glanced over her shoulder. Eirin and Kaguya were deep in conversation, and not paying her the slightest bit of attention. Taking care not to change that, she sidled her way toward the door.

Keine was waiting for her outside. Again, she spoke first.

"Mokou," she said. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Keine sounded tired. And worried. Mokou wondered if that was more playacting, or Mokou's own emotional state rubbing off on her. Mokou certainly felt plenty tired and worried. In fact, she felt a little scared.

"No," she sighed, shoving her hands in her pockets. "I don't. I don't want to do anything except curl up and sleep for a year. But since that's not going to happen, I'm going to do this instead."

Keine shook her head. "It's madness. Literal suicide."

"I know. Don't care."

There was a long moment before Keine spoke again. "If Kaguya finds out-"

"Big deal. There's nothing she can do to me."

"How do you know this will even work?" Keine demanded. "You tried to reach out to Rumia already, and it accomplished nothing."

Mokou set her mouth in a straight line. "Something Body said to me, when we were talking in the elevator. See, words don't usually amount to much. People can lie, and they can ignore the truth whenever they like. But if they're _shown_ the truth…"

"It's still incredibly risky," Keine said. "What if-"

"No," Mokou said. She held a finger against Keine's lips, silencing her. "No more 'ifs.' No more 'buts.' Anything Kaguya tries will just escalate things to disaster. So I'm doing this."

Keine studied her face, her grey eyes boring into Mokou's. Mokou flinched and looked away. There was just something creepy about being scrutinized by a figment of her imagination.

Finally Keine drew back. "Okay," she said. "If you say so."

Then, seemingly from nowhere, she produced long object and held it at the ready. It was Mokou's father's sword, lost ever since it had been taken from her.

Mokou grimaced. "Uh, does it have to be decapitation?"

"I'm afraid so."

"You sure? Can't you just cut off a hand or something?"

Keine shook her head. "No. But, if you wish, we can speed your resurrection."

"Fine." Mokou tilted her head back and pulled away her collar, exposing her neck. "Make it quick."

Keine nodded, and drew the sword back. But before she could strike, Mokou said suddenly, "Oh, wait. Before you do, make sure you've got a coin handy, okay? We'll need it later."

…

Rumia's storm had become a hurricane.

A massive cyclone slowly spun in the center, and clouds rolled in a gargantuan spiral around the vortex. A network of lightning flashed through the darkness, their sparking claws hungrily reaching out for any signs of life. The howling winds had already ripped apart everything that could be torn loose, and thirsted for more.

And in heart of the cyclone, hovering with her tattered wings curled around her like a protective cocoon, was the storm's master. After that mess with the fiery geysers, Rumia wasn't going anywhere near the ground. But as she would have been even more exposed in the open air, she had poured as much power as she could into the storm and then drawn it around her. Mokou's power was surprisingly effective, yes, but Rumia's was older, stronger, and inevitable. For all of its awesome strength, in the end fire always gave way to the cold. It was the natural order of things.

For now, she was waiting and resting, conserving her strength. She didn't expect Mokou and Kaguya to simply cede to her demands. They were too stupidly stubborn to just give in. Plus, Kaguya was probably going to seek out revenge for the death of her…whatever in the hell the other Kaguya had been to her. In the dark, Rumia smiled. Killing that spare might have been rash, but it had been oh so satisfying.

Unfortunately, that small taste of blood had been enough to send Azrael's voice into a frenzy. **Kill them, kill them, kill them, **it repeated over and over, not even bothering to inject poetry into its message. And Rumia wanted to indulge it, she really did. But she couldn't.

_**Soon, **_she told herself. _**After I claim what is mine. And then…**_

Then the fun would truly begin! First, she would devour the strongest and add their strength to her own. Yukari was a must, as was Madam Mima. Rumia couldn't wait to repay some old debts with those two. The knowledge possessed by Kaguya's doctor friend would be useful as well. And from there…well, Yukari would surely know who was the most powerful. Perhaps Rumia would even be able to devour Shinki and Sariel. In addition to the massive amounts of power they would give her, the irony alone would make doing so oh so delicious.

After that, everyone else would die. All of them. She was going to tear up Gensokyo by its roots and break it apart. The current Hakurei shrine maiden was going to be first. Rumia was going to take special delight in savoring her screams while her body was corrupted centimeter by centimeter. What was more, she was going to make Yukari watch.

And when she was done, she could go wherever she wanted! Yukari had sole access to the Borderlands, and with that at her disposal, not even the Angels would be able to stop her. She could be in one dimension in the morning and burn her way through three others by mid-afternoon. The whole of Creation was going to be open to her, and she was going to gobble it up. Her power would grow, until none could stand against her.

And from there, what was next? Well, how about breaking into the Abyss and joining with the _real _Azrael? That would be something, no doubt. And when they were one, who would be able to stop them? By then, they would have enough power to challenge the Creator Himself, to succeed where the Lightbringer had failed.

Now _that _was a goal worth pursuing.

But that day was still far away. For now, she needed to working on cowing Kaguya and Mokou into submission. So she remained in place and waited as the hour ticked by.

Under the cover of her wings, her talons twitched impatiently. Damn it, forty-eight minutes had gone by, and still no word! What was taking them so long?

…

"Now that," Kaguya observed dispassionately, "is a whole lot of weather." She glanced to Eirin. "You sure we can crack it?"

"That's entirely up to her," Eirin answered. She nodded toward Mokou. "After all, she's the one doing all the heavy lifting. So how about it, Mokou? Can you crack through?"

Mokou didn't answer right away. She was busy studying the large, bulky machine that had been summoned up. It had a very long and complicated name, but Mokou hadn't paid much attention. She just thought of it as the Ugly Machine Thing, or the UMT for short. Pronounced Umt.

According to Eirin, the Umt would send Mokou's fire anywhere they wished. At least, that was the gist of it. Eirin's explanation had been much more detailed. "It's all metaphorical," she had said. "Obviously this machine is one in name only. But in a place like this, the symbol is the thing. Simply by expecting it to operate as described, it will perform exactly like…"

And right about then was where Mokou had stopped listening. She really didn't give a damn about the whosit or the whatsit of the where. If that piece of junk would let her unleash one of her infernos on a global scale, then that was all she needed to know.

"Only one way to find out," she said at last. She cracked the knuckles on one hand and then the other. "All right. Ready when you are."

"We've been ready," Eirin said. She pulled a lever, and the Umt lit up like a squat, metal Christmas tree. Two circular receptacles opened up, their interior glowing gold. "Send the bitch to Hell."

Mokou smirked. She held up her hands and concentrated. Fire flashed to life, first around her hands and then covering her forearms. But instead of immediately releasing it like she always did, she just let it build in power, until it was pure white. "Okay, but you've got it backwards," she told the Lunarians. "I'm not sending her to Hell."

Kaguya, who was already sweating from the heat, shot her a suspicious look. "What does that mean?" she demanded.

"Simple. I'm sending Hell to her." With that, she plunged her arms into the receptacles and fired.

…

High above the storm, in the cold of space (or a convincing mock-up of it at least) hovered the Weapon.

It was huge, the size of a small moon, and it was shaped like one too. But this was no moon. It was a tool of annihilating force. Its metal surface bristled with artillery, enough to tear an invading force to shreds. But that wasn't what made it dangerous. Its true power was housed in the large crater that sat in its northern hemisphere, just above the equator. And it was this crater that was currently pointed directly down the throat of Rumia's storm.

A command was given, and the Weapon was given purpose. Green lights appeared all along the crater's circumference, and from these lights lances of energy shot out to converge at a point directly above the crater's center; a center that contained a gaping hole.

And from this hole emerged another beam of energy, this one more possessing more than five times the girth of any of the others. It hit where the others had joined and swallowed them up, adding their power to its own. And from there, it shot forward like a spear, racing towards it target with deadly intent.

…

Rumia frowned. Though six minutes still remained, something was wrong. A strange shiver had just gone down her spine, alerting her to some kind of disturbance.

She looked up. Her eyes narrowed. What in the world…

Then she put two and two together and sighed. Oh please, it was this song and dance again. They really were like monkeys with a hammer. Put an obstacle in their path and they'd just hit it over and over again, expecting that alone to clear a path.

And then the beam hit the roof of her storm. She had to admit, for what it was it packed a wallop, but it didn't even pierce the upper crust. This was just getting sad.

Then a troubling thought struck her. What if this wasn't the attack? What if this was just-

…

"Operation Alderaan is underway," Eirin said in a clinical tone. She grabbed a dial and turned it as far as it would go. "Now using the Force."

…

The beam suddenly flared up into bright scarlet, and its output intensified into the triple digits. It started burrowing down through the upper levels of the storm like a drill, plunging slowly but steadily down the throat of the cyclone.

Rumia flinched, but didn't panic. This sort of thing was expected, after all. A big, obvious frontal attack to focus her defenses into a single spot. And once she had fully directed her attention to stopping the beam, the second attack would hit her weakened back.

So she indulged it. She thickened the top of the storm, arresting the beam of Phoenix Fire's descent. And all the while, she kept a wary eye on the ground beneath her.

…

"Bottom of the storm is starting to thin out," Eirin announced. She smirked. "She bought it."

"Good," Kaguya said. She wrapped her hands around the rubber-grip handle of a large lever that extended from the ground. She closed her eyes and imagined that it was Rumia's neck. Throttling her would give her so much pleasure.

Instead, she settled for pulling back on the lever and setting off a volcanic eruption.

…

And there it was! Directly beneath the storm, the ground had exploded, and more of those goddamned fire geysers were rushing up. Except the burst that had scorched Rumia earlier had been nowhere near the scale of these ones. This was a full-on holocaust, and judging by the funnel-shaped hills that were thrusting themselves up from the earth, it had every intention of going prehistoric on her.

Which was more-or-less what Rumia had been expecting. An attack on two fronts, one from below and one from above. Force her to divide her power, therefore weakening her defenses. She wouldn't be surprised if she were to be suddenly assaulted from the sides as well, probably from those stupid spaceships again, only this time supercharged by Mokou's fire.

But while theoretically her mojo could be whittled away until her defenses collapsed, she had no intention of staying in place and letting that happen.

As the fire rose up to meet her from below, her wings unfurled and she flew away from the cyclone to take refuge somewhere else. Once she was gone, the center of the storm opened up, forming a yawning tunnel that allowed the blazing beam to shoot right through and strike the cluster of volcanoes that was forming below.

The results were loud and predictable.

…

"Hey, she's moving," Kaguya said, shaking Eirin by the shoulder. "She's moving! Why are you letting her move?"

"Unfortunately, she neglected to ask for permission," Eirin said as she shrugged off Kaguya's hand. "But the point is taken. Mokou?"

Mokou, whose arms were still plunged into the Umt, shot her a dirty look. "Look," she said, her voice sounding strained. "I provide the heat, you tell it where to go. This is your problem."

"Fine." Eirin worked her control panel. "Just keep that fire coming."

"Thank you, I'll take that under consideration," Mokou muttered. She waited until both of the Lunarians were too preoccupied to pay attention to her. Then she whispered into the tiny microphone hidden in her collar, "Ready?"

"_Yes," _Keine said sadly. _"Mokou, are you sure-"_

"Do it."

…

Chortling to herself, Rumia moved away from the inferno, taking her storm with her. That was the problem with her opponents' strategy. Maybe Phoenix Fire could hurt her, but that didn't mean she just had to stay in one place and take it. So long as she kept moving, Mokou was going to burn herself out sooner or later. Using so much fire at once had to be putting a strain on her, and Rumia had the advantage when it came to supernatural stamina.

"Going somewhere?"

Rumia paused. The voice had come right out of the heart of the beam. She turned around and stared.

A huge fiery sphere was now bulging out of the beam like a burning tumor. Though the glare made it hard to see, Rumia could just make out a humanoid shape in the sphere's center. However, she didn't need her sight to tell who it was; her nose was more than sufficient.

Mokou.

Rumia grinned. **"Oh, lookie here. Miss Hotpants herself. Run out of fuel already?"**

"Hardly," Mokou said, her voice artificially amplified. "But that doesn't mean I'm in a hurry to waste it."

"**Yeah," **Rumia said, glancing down at the still-erupting volcanoes. **"Sure you aren't."**

"Blame Kaguya for that idea. Me? I'm not so eager to wear myself out in such a manner."

"**Oh really?" **Rumia leaned forward hungrily. **"And exactly what did you have in mind?"**

…

"Wait a minute, what's going on?" Kaguya said in confusion. She motioned towards the viewing sphere. "What's with that bulge? Is she talking to someone?"

Eirin frowned. "It seems that…hang on a moment." The Lunarian doctor examined a display of power readings.

Then her eyes slowly went wide. "It's Mokou," she said in disbelief.

"Wait, what?" Kaguya pushed her out of the way to see for herself. "How's that possible? She's right behind…"

She and Eirin exchanged a glance. Then, with fearful hesitation, they slowly turned around.

…

"It's simple," Mokou said. "You and me, one-on-one."

Rumia letting out a cackling laugh. **"And when did you fall off the stupid tree? Mokou, you don't stand a chance! It doesn't matter how much fire you throw at me, I can take it! But all I need is one good hit." **She held up her right talon and curved the fingers around. **"Why don't you ask your friend Kaguya how well that will work out for you?"**

"That's not what I meant," Mokou retorted. "I mean hand-to-hand. No fire, no taint, no storm, nothing. If you beat me until I can't fight anymore, I'll help you get out." She stuck a thumb against her own chest. "But if I win, you go back to where you came from and never bother us again."

"**Ha! Well, that's gutsy, I'll give you that. But why go through all this to begin with? Won't just letting me out make everyone's lives a whole lot easier?"**

Mokou calmly regarded her new nemesis. "You already said you planned on displacing Rin Satsuki, and I really don't feel comfortable letting you take so much power. I dunno, something tells me you'd be inclined to abuse it."

"**Oh, most certainly," **Rumia said cheerfully. **"But are you really expecting me to trust you to keep your word? Or expect you to trust mine?"**

"Hey, what have you to lose?" Mokou said with a shrug. "If this keeps up, neither of us will get anywhere. You'll still be stuck here, and I don't fancy getting lobotomized."

"**Uh-huh. And you **_**do **_**realize that even if you win, that still leaves you with the problem of trying to break Rin Satsuki on your own, right? Damned if you do, damned if you don't."**

Mokou spread her hands. "So? At least we have plenty of time to work on that problem. You're here now."

"**Oh, so true," **Rumia agreed. **"Alrighty, you've got a deal. Though I would really advise against going back on it. The last person to do that to me ended up as a chitinous shish-kabob, and her home brain got turned into a hand puppet."**

"I have not forgotten," Mokou said coldly. "All right, let's do this."

Neither of them moved. The fire continued to blaze while the storm continued to blow.

"…ready when you are," Mokou said at last.

Rumia folded her arms. **"Do I look like an idiot? You first."**

"No."

"**Fine. Then go away and let me vegatablize you in peace."**

Mokou shook her head. "Okay, how about this? On the count of three. One…"

Rumia raised her hand. **"Question, teacher. Do you mean **_**on **_**three, or immediately after?"**

"On," Mokou replied. "Two."

"**Okay. And if neither of us backs down? Because that's exactly what will happen."**

"Three!"

Rumia was right. Nothing changed.

"**Well," **Rumia said with a sigh. **"It seems that you and I have some trust issues we need to work out."**

…

Kaguya grabbed Mokou by the throat and slammed her back into the ground. "What did you _do?" _she screamed.

Struggling to speak through her blocked airway, Mokou rasped, "Gave us a fighting chance."

"You promised to do things my way!" Kaguya's eyes filled with angry tears. She sounded more hurt by the betrayal than anything Mokou had ever done to her. "You promised!"

"Kaguya, stop!" Eirin said as she tried to pull the younger girl off. "Let her go!"

"Not you too! You're supposed to be supporting me!"

"I am! By acting as your common sense!"

"Why?" Kaguya spun around and gave Eirin a rough shove, sending her stumbling. "Why should I, after what she's done?"

Eirin pointed at the Umt. "Because if you're attacking her, she can't power that!"

Kaguya blinked. "Oh."

…

As if someone had thrown a switch, the holocaust simply up and died. The energy beam thinned out to green and disappeared. Below, the volcanoes ceased to vomit up flames and sulfur. The rivers of lava cooled and hardened. Soon there was nothing left but ash-covered mountains.

As for Mokou herself, she was still covered with fire, but it wasn't a giant ball anymore. In fact, it was now an aura not much larger than twice her body size. She looked around in surprise and said, "Oh."

"**Well!" **Rumia said. **"That's a start, I guess."**

Mokou sighed. Ah, might as well. She let her own fires dim and vanish.

"Well?" she said to the storm. "Your turn."

Rumia didn't move to comply. She didn't attack, but she didn't drop her defenses.

Mokou swallowed. Her throat had suddenly gone very dry. "Rumia. We had a deal, remember?"

"**I'm thinking," **Rumia drawled. **"See, this is kind of an interesting situation. Something of an opportunity, if you will."**

"Move to attack me, and I'll just vanish again," Mokou warned. "Unless you want to risk killing me."

"**True enough," **Rumia lamented. **"Ah, what the hell. This could be fun."**

The storm started to shrink. It was fascinating to watch, actually. It just seemed to contract in on itself, getting smaller and smaller. At first Mokou assumed that Rumia was sucking it into herself, but no, it didn't seem like it was getting pulled into anything; it was simply becoming a smaller version of itself. Mokou found herself wondering if Rumia was going to stick it into a bottle once it had become small enough.

Such proved not to be the case. As soon as it had shrunk down to the size of a small house, it simply popped like a disrupted smoke ring. And out of it came Rumia herself. She hurtled forward, moving faster than any living thing had a right to, burned lips stretched wide in a bloodthirsty grin, talons outstretched and zeroing in on Mokou's stomach.

It was Mokou's sharply honed instincts that saved her. Before she was disemboweled, she bent backwards, avoiding Rumia by mere centimeters. As the youkai passed by, Mokou's hands snapped up to seize her opponent by the wrists. She swung her lower body back and brought it back up, driving her knees into Rumia's middle.

The two spun and tumbled this way and that, each trying to gain control of the other. Rumia was the stronger of the two, but Mokou had the managed to take her off guard and wasn't about to let her get it back.

Then they struck the side of one of the dead volcanoes. Mokou lost her grip and the two of them spilled partway down the slope. Rumia growled and stabbed her talons into the mountainside, arresting her momentum.

"**Nice opening bout," **she called down to Mokou. **"Too bad it's all you're gonna get."**

With that, she leapt up like a pouncing mountain lion and came down onto Mokou's sprawled form.

It should have ended there. Rumia was just too fast, too strong, and too savage. And Mokou still hadn't recovered from the hard fall. By rights, she should have had her throat torn out before the spots had cleared from her eyes.

Instead, Rumia's bound was met by an elbow to the throat.

Rumia fell back, gasping. She clutched at her neck, trying to reopen her airways. Mokou stood tall, glaring down at her.

"Three hundred years," she said. "Three hundred years of nonstop fighting, killing, and dying. I deal with those sorts of things on a near-daily basis. But you? I think you're a little rusty."

Then she swooped down and grabbed Rumia by the collar. "But for now, I think we're due for a change of scenery."

And then they were both gone.

…

The first thing Rumia noticed was that the smell of ash and dust had been replaced by that of grass and fresh air. The second thing she noticed was that she was now facedown in the grass.

She pushed herself up on her palms and spat out a mouthful of grass and dirt. It seemed she had developed a discouraging habit of being taken by sucker punches as of late. Though if growing a lawn provided Mokou with some kind of strategic advantage, she wasn't seeing it.

"Turn that shit off."

"**Eh?" **Rumia looked over her shoulder to see Mokou standing nearby, arms crossed and red eyes flashing with anger.

Mokou pointed. "That taint thing. Turn it off."

Rumia looked down and saw that the grass surrounding her was quite dead. Oh right, the terms of their fight. She sighed and wondered if it was worth it to keep this up. Mokou clearly had something sneaky up her sleeve. Why let her spring it?

"Turn it off right now or I'll vanish and leave you to dig your way out."

Oh yeah. That. Rumia sighed. That was the problem with sacrificing short term advantages for long term gains. There were just too many ways those gains could be destroyed.

"**Fine," **she said, rising to feet. A small mental tweak, and the taint was reined in. **"And where did you-" **Rumia stopped talking. Frowning, she looked around.

As it turned out, she really was standing in someone's lawn. The grass was neatly cut and covered a shallow hump of earth, too low to properly be called a hill. A high stone wall fortified with protective charms and enchantments surrounded it, beyond which was a grove of maple trees. A cobblestone path led from the wooden gate to the top of the slope.

At the center of the lawn was a large, three story building with a sloping tiled roof and several rectangular windows. It was very inviting looking, with whitewashed walls, a colorful flower around its perimeter, and a vegetable garden on its right side. Smoke rose from a red-brick chimney.

Rumia stared. She _knew _this place. Or at least, it was unsettlingly familiar to her. The memory of it danced just out of reach, taunting her.

Then Mokou kicked her in the back of her head.

"**Gah!" **she cried, stumbling forward and clutching where she had been struck.

"Recognize it yet?" Mokou asked. "You should. It's home."

She tackled Rumia's back and kept going, driving her towards the front door. Fed up with this, Rumia dug her feet into the ground, forcing a stop. Then she reached behind her, snatched Mokou up, and hurled her the rest of the way. Mokou crashed right through the double-door entrance.

Growling, Rumia stalked forward. **"So, this is what this is all about? Gonna haul me down memory lane?" **She kicked Mokou in the stomach, lifting her up with such force that Mokou's back smacked against the ceiling before she came back down. **"What part of 'Your Rumia is dead' did you fail to understand?"**

She drove her fist down at Mokou's head. Mokou managed to roll out of the way, and Rumia's hand smashed right through the floorboards.

"I don't buy it!" Mokou shouted as she twisted into a crouch. "I saw the look in your eyes! You remember this place, don't you?" She attacked Rumia with a flurry of punches and kicks. Rumia deflected about a dozen of them before swiping Mokou to the side with her wing.

Mokou flipped around and landed in a crouch on the wall. "You said it yourself! You're made from what she left behind!" she shouted. "There's more of her in you than you let on!"

Rumia glowered at her. **"You know, if there's one thing I can't stand, it's insufferable know-it-alls. I am going to enjoy beating the pretentious out of you." **Then she smirked. **"And hey, I only agreed not to use the taint and the storms. As it so happens, my arsenal is a wee bit larger than that."**

With that, she lunged forward. Mokou tensed herself to dodge, but Rumia wasn't targeting her. Instead, she slammed her fist against the ground at an angle. Scarlet energies danced around her fingers to melt into the floorboards.

The effect was immediate. A wave of force rippled out at Mokou, tearing up the floor and walls as it went. Mokou tried to get out of the way, but there was nowhere to go. It ran into her and drove her through the wall.

…

_Okay, _Mokou thought as she found herself caught up in a whirlwind of debris. _Did not know she could do that. That is a problem._

She tried to regain control, but then her hip struck a hard corner and cracked. _Damn it, _she sighed as she found herself sprawling over some kind of table. _That's gonna slow me-_

Rumia's metallic fingers grabbed the back of her head. She forced Mokou to bend over the table and held her down. **"In case you're wondering," **Rumia said. She grabbed Mokou's right arm with her other hand. **"I ain't gonna kill you now. I know that's probably just like taking a nap for you. Instead…"**

She yanked back, and pain flared up in Mokou's arm. **"I know your pain threshold is unbelievably high," **Rumia said casually as pulled and twisted. **"So let's start small and work our way up."**

There was a _pop!, _and Mokou's shoulder popped out of joint. "Th-th-this is sm-small?" she said with a grimace.

"**For you it's practically child's play. But if you're feeling disappointed…"**

Something ripped, and Mokou lost feeling below the shoulder. Everything around it was more than happy to pick up the slack though.

"**Huh," **Rumia said as she held up and regarded Mokou's arm, which was now fully separate from the rest of her body. **"That actually took some effort. They really don't make them like they used to." **

"Th-thanks," Mokou growled. She tried moving her head around so she could see better. Maybe she could hook Rumia's legs or something.

"**Well, one down, three to go." **Rumia tossed the arm over her back, where it landed with a wet _splat. _She looked around. **"And hey, what better place to systematically butcher you than the kitchen?"**

That took Mokou by surprise and caused her to momentarily forget her predicament. "We're in the k-kitchen?" she said.

Rumia pulled her back just long enough for Mokou to glimpse a cramped, rectangular room filled with wooden cabinets and earthen pottery. There were several vegetables strung up in nets, as well as a full ham hock on the counter. A large, brick oven occupied the center of one wall, while windows to the outside were at the other. Mokou herself was shoved against the fat-legged, rectangular wooden table in the center of the room.

Then Rumia slammed her head back down. **"Yup. Kitchen. Hey, this is supposed to be an orphanage, yeah?" **She snickered. **"So, what say you fill it with actual orphans, and we grind up your limbs into the oatmeal and feed it to them, see if anyone notices?"**

One of Mokou's teeth had come loose. Spitting it out, she let out a weak laugh. "Heh. I used to work in here, you know."

"**Is that so." **Rumia grabbed Mokou's other arm and pulled it back. **"Well, then there's a kind of closure to all this, isn't there? Sort of like coming full circle."**

"Y-yeah, you and your fr-friends used to c-come in here all the time, trying to st-steal c-c-ookies and the like."

Rumia gave Mokou's arm a sharp wrench, making her gasp. **"Did we? My, what a mischievous scamp I was."**

"Y-y-yeah," Mokou coughed. "Never did l-let you-ah!" Her shoulder and elbow both separated. She squeezed eyes shut and pressed on regardless. "N-n-never did…let you though."

"**Hmmm, well, good for you." **Rumia kept pulling and pulling, until the muscles and ligaments were stretched to their tearing point. **"Firm discipline is a necessary element in every child's life."**

A twist, and Mokou was down to two limbs.

Mokou laughed. Here she was, being systematically taken apart, and her primary concern was talking about their shared past. She actually found herself thanking whatever gods had cursed her life with such misfortune for all the pain and suffering Kaguya had put her through, as without it she would have blacked out or broken down as soon as the twisting had begun.

"Y-y-y-yeah," she croaked. "Y-you r-r-remember th-them, right?"

"**What, my friends?" **Rumia shrugged. **"Nope. But hey, sixty years go by, people drift away, life goes on. You know how it is."**

She reached down and gently ran her fingertips over Mokou's thigh, as if inspecting a piece of choice meat. **"Oh hey, just FYI? Your first arm is starting to grow back. So that means as soon as I get done with your legs, we can start over."**

Ignoring this, Mokou said, "Y-you sure? You g-g-guys were in…insep…" She took a deep breath. "Inseparable."

"**Nothing is inseparable. Exhibit A: your arms. Exhibit B?"**

More pain. Mokou blocked it out. She had suffered worse, after all. "Yeah, but…Ah! H-how about Keine K-Kamish-shirasawa?"

Rumia paused. **"I'm sorry, but who?"**

Despite the agony she was in, Mokou grinned. "T-tiny little shrimp o-of a girl. S-silver hair, clothes never f-fit, half y-youkai?"

A few moments went by, and then Rumia said, **"Wait, isn't she the schoolteacher over at the Human Village?"**

Mokou let out a strangled sound of surprise. "You know her?"

"**Of her. Had some…indirect encounters with her. And we were best friends?"**

"Yes!"

"**Huh." **Rumia mused on this for a time, and then she shrugged. **"Well, whaddya know? Small world."**

She went back to work, causing Mokou to blurt out, "Kohta!"

"**Kohta? Well, insofar as cries of anguish go, that's a new one, but eh, whatever floats your-"**

Rumia paused, as did her hand. Spurred on by this, Mokou shouted, "Kohta Momoi!"

Rumia's fingers twitched, and given that they were at least six centimeters deep into Mokou's leg, it was not a pleasant experience.

Suddenly Mokou found herself lifted up and flipped around. Rumia slammed her back into the table, with her bloody talons gripping Rumia's throat. **"What did you just say?" **Rumia growled.

Even though this was the sort of response Mokou had been gunning for, even she was surprised by the look of outright shock and anger in Rumia's eyes. Normally they shone with a menacing red light. Now they were practically boiling with barely restrained fury.

Despite having just undergone double amputation and possibly being moments away from a very messy death, Mokou found herself grinning. _Got her. _"Oh, remember him? Spiky hair, squinty eyes, cocky grin, always getting into trouble? You were even closer to him than you were to Keine. Everyone thought you two liked each other. Heck, even I started wondering."

Rumia stared at her, her face a stone mask.

Then it happened. If Mokou had not been looking Rumia straight in the eye, she would have missed it. Rumia's eyes seemed to pulse out for a fraction of a second, as if something in her head had sent out a shockwave. Her head jerked back, and her face contorted with anger.

"**Oh, what the hell," **she muttered, pressing her free hand to her temple. **"What the…What are you doing? How are you doing this?"**

If it was an act, it was an especially convincing one. Mokou glanced to the side and was relieved to see that one arm had fully reformed while the other was well on its way. "Not me," she said. "It's her. She remembers. And so do you."

"**Is. That. So." **Rumia's lips curled back. **"Well, so what? You think name-dropping some old buddies of hers is supposed to mean anything? Because it doesn't!"**

"No?" Mokou laughed. "Then look out the window and tell me that again."

Rumia's eyes narrowed with suspicion. **"What kind of idiot do you take me for? Like I'm just gonna-"**

Mokou vanished.

"**What?" **Rumia said in shock. She looked around and, finding nothing, yanked the table off the floor and hurled it aside. Pots and cabinets were smashed, but Mokou wasn't there. **"Where'd you go?"**

"Right here," Mokou said, and she thrust her newly regenerated hands up under Rumia's armpits and clasped them behind her neck. Before the demonic youkai could grasp the situation, she yanked with all her might, turning Rumia sharply to the right.

It wasn't easy. Rumia was still much stronger than her, and those wings really got in the way. Still, Mokou wasn't exactly weak, and she had the advantage of surprise. As such, she managed to wretch Rumia's body far enough so that they were both facing the windows to the outside.

By reflex, Rumia's arms came down, breaking Mokou's grip and pinning her forearms to Rumia's side. At the same time, Rumia's control over the taint broke, causing Mokou's arms to shrivel and fall apart. That was bad. Fortunately, reflex also caused Rumia's head to come up at the same time, giving her a good look at what was outside.

Rumia saw. She froze. She stared.

And everything changed.

…

It is difficult to articulate fully what Rumia experienced in that moment, as she stood as still as a statue, eyes fixated on what lay through the window while unconsciously holding Mokou's arms to her sides as the now unrestrained taint ate away at her enemy's flesh.

To begin, we will need a frame of reference.

Imagine that you are rolling down a hill, caught up in a rush of childlike joy and excitement, only to realize that you are two seconds away from colliding with a very large and very hard tree that has so discourteously placed itself directly in your path.

Imagine that you have snuck backstage in hopes of discovering how the magician performed his saw-a-woman-in-half trick, and upon opening the box in question, you discover the bisected torso of the magician's now very dead assistant.

Imagine chatting away with a friendly stranger at a pub, and as the conversation goes on, you are constantly nagged by persistent sense of familiarity, only to come to the realization that you are in fact talking to your brother, who had died and was buried some twelve years prior, a fact that doesn't seem to bother him in the slightest.

In other words, Rumia found herself bombarded with feelings of shock, wonder, horror, bewilderment, and haunting realization. Everything Mokou had been blathering about suddenly became real. And she hated it.

The first thing she saw was Mokou herself reclining casually against a tree: not the one currently trying to separate herself from her withered arms, but Mokou circa sixty years ago. She looked exactly the same, and yet she was noticeably different, with the harsh lines of her face softened and her perpetually tensed muscles relaxed. Though she appeared to be dozing off, she was in fact keeping a watchful eye on three children as they wrestled and played together in the grass.

The first child was obviously Rumia herself, only this one was around eleven years old and Human. In contrast with that moronic youkai prankster that had been running around in Rumia's skin for the past six decades, this girl lacked the inhuman perfection that youkai all seemed to possess. She was plainer, skinnier, with dull brown eyes and unkempt hair. But even then her eyes had glittered with mischief.

The other girl was even skinnier than Rumia had been, and seemed hesitant about joining her two friends in their rough play. Her shimmering silver hair was cut short and held back by a white plastic headband, and along with her flawless skin and faintly luminescent eyes Rumia marked her as being at least part youkai.

Rumia had no doubt that this was Keine Kamishirasawa, schoolteacher of the Human Village and, according to Mokou, her forgotten childhood friend. But while Keine was setting off all kind of bells in Rumia's head, it was the sight of the boy, the one struggling to put the younger Rumia in a headlock, that had her frozen in place.

Mokou had described Kohta Momoi as having narrow eyes and spiky hair, and this boy certainly fit the description. Furthermore, when Rumia had heard his name for the first time, it was like something had reached straight down her throat and given her heart a sharp tug. Now that she was actually seeing his face, it was being pulled all the way out, and…

"…_tears streamed down his face, leaving muddy trails through the ash. "No!" he cried. "I won't leave you! I _can't _leave you, not like-"_

A sharp stab of pain lanced behind Rumia's eyes, and she staggered forward. **"What the hell?" **she muttered as she brought a trembling hand to her forehead. **"What was-"**

"'…_it's taking __**me. **__Can't __**control**__ it much longer. G-go, get __**out. **__Find __**the others, **__take them somewhere I can't find. I'll try to __**hold on **__as long as I can.'_

'_Rumia…'_

'_**GO! **__I'll try to __**send it somewhere else! **__But I can't stop, __**can't stop it from killing…'"**_

"**Argh!" **Rumia cried. She lurched back, clutching at her face, heedless of the fact that her talons were cutting into her flesh. It was coming back, it was all coming back…

"'_**Run! Run, you little fool! And prey to whatever gods will hear you that our paths never cross again. May they show you the mercy they denied me.'"**_

"Do you remember now?"

Rumia stopped stumbling around. She slowly raised her head, hands uncovering her hateful eyes. Mokou was standing there, her arms fully regenerated and folded over her breast. She was coolly watching Rumia with dispassionately waiting for her response.

"Has it all come back yet?" she asked. "Or are you going to try to convince me that my Rumia is really dead?"

Rumia spat on the ground, which sizzled and burned where the gob of saliva hit. **"I ought to tear your spine out through your throat," **she growled as she straightened up. **"In fact, I think I'll do just that. You've survive worse, after all." **Then she frowned, her focus going to Mokou's arms. **"Wait…how did those come back? The taint should have…"**

"Yeah…" Mokou drawled. "See, about that."

Then she kicked Rumia full in the face. It wasn't enough to knock her down, but it did send her staggering back against the counter. Rumia shook her head and gingerly touched her nose. The cartilage hadn't snapped, but it was rather tender.

Mokou, however, had come off the worse for it. The top of her bare foot was now black with the taint. But this didn't seem to cause her much stress. "See, I figured that since your taint can cut through the Hourai Elixir's effects, it can cancel out our other abilities too," Mokou explained as she hopped back on her other foot. "Like, say, my immunity to fire…"

Her withered foot ignited. The healthy parts were unharmed, but the black bits were burned away. And with them gone, it didn't take long for Mokou's recuperative powers to regrow the lost flesh, making her foot whole once more.

"And all better," Mokou said, standing on two feet again.

Rumia scowled. **"Oh, you have got to be kidding-"**

Mokou erupted into flames and charged, spearing Rumia in the midsection. This carried the two of them over the countertop and crashing through the window.

The two of them rolled through the grass, each trying to overpower the other. Rumia was the stronger, but the pain from the fire kept her from getting a solid grip. Finally she managed to disentangle herself from Mokou and swat her back several meters.

"**What happened to no fire, huh?" **Rumia hissed as she regained her feet. She glanced at the tree. To her lack of surprise, the memory of Mokou and the children were gone.

Mokou quickly scrambled up and crouched. "You already used the taint on me, so I figured it was allowed."

"**That was **_**not **_**intentional, and…" **Rumia sighed. Why was she doing this? **"You know what? Screw this. This was all just a big setup anyway."**

With that, she rushed forward, cold smoke covering her. Her wings spread wide, and she took flight.

Mokou didn't dodge, and Rumia plowed right into her. Cold met flame once again and the two combatants clung to each other as they sailed back toward the house, each raining blows on the other. Mokou's fists fractured bone and scorched skin, and Rumia's talons cut skin and rotted flesh, but neither could do lasting damage to the other. What Rumia corrupted, Mokou burned away. What Mokou burned, Rumia would snuff out.

They smashed through a third story window and tumbled over the floor. Mokou managed to get her legs between them and shoved Rumia back, sending her crashing into the wall. Growling with animalistic rage, Rumia rose up on all fours, talons digging into the floor and teeth bared. Bloody saliva dripped from her jaws to leave steaming holes in the floor.

Then she saw where they were. It was a room filled with sleeping mats and children's toys. The walls were painted a cheery yellow, and framed pictures of the orphanage's residents hung around her.

And in one corner was a small table. On it was a miniature circus, constructed from sticks, leaves, flowers, pieces of doodled-on paper, and other scraps. It was very crude, with tents that looked like they were about to fall in on themselves and people made from twigs. Still, a lot of work had gone into its creation, and a lot of love.

"Remember that?" Mokou said to her. "You and Kohta spent days working on it. Keine read about them in a book and wanted to go to one, but since she couldn't, you two decided to make her one."

A moment of disorientation swept over Rumia. She bowed her head as her fingers clenched, tearing up long strips of wood. A sound like waves on the shore was roaring in her head. She tried to shake it off, but…

"'_Okay, I think we're almost done,' Kohta announced as he carefully tied the final support to the big tent; or at least as careful as a ten year old boy could be._

'_About time,' Rumia groused. She was in charge of filling the circus with performers and visitors, and manipulating all those tiny little sticks was hard on the fingers. 'Stupid bark. I am never going to get this sap off.'_

'_Whine, whine, whine, that's all you do,' Kohta said as he hunkered down to inspect the outer wall. Though it was in satisfactory condition, he frowned anyway. 'Hey, Rumia?'_

'_What?'_

'_You think we'll ever get to go to a real circus?'_

_Rumia rolled her eyes. 'No. Duh. They're never gonna have a circus in Gensokyo. It's always about those festivals, with no proper clowns or acrobats in any of them!'_

_Kohta thought on this for a moment. 'Well, in that case, we'll just have to start our own.'_

'_No way!' Rumia yelped. 'Making this one was hard enough!'_

'_Well, of course not right away! When we grow up. And we'll get lots of help too." His voice grew wistful. "Everyone from the House! I'll be the ringleader, of course…"_

"_Hey! I want to be ringleader too!"_

"_Fine, we can take turns. But seriously, just think about it! We can make Haruko, Hayate, Eiko be clowns, Shinji can be the strongman, Melissa can…I don't know, sell tickets or something. But seriously, it'll be great!"_

The memory faded. Rumia bowed her head. **"Why are you doing this?" **she muttered. **"What can you possibly hope to accomplish?"**

"Bring back someone I failed," Mokou answered. "And get rid of the monster that took her away."

…

"When?" Kaguya demanded. She sounded downright desperate. "When are you going to let us in?"

"When it's too late to go back," Mokou answered simply.

Kaguya stared at her, her eyes wide with disbelief. "You're really doing this, aren't you? You sent _yourself _to get slaughtered." She took two steps back. "You are insane. Truly, legitimately insane."

Mokou said nothing. She just closed her eyes and continued to wait. It was almost time.

…

Rumia let out a harsh, hissing laugh. **"Is that so." **She rose up, her head still bowed, her face shrouded by what hair the fire had left. **"A noble endeavor, to certain. And are you absolutely certain you can pull this off?"**

Mokou tilted her chin. "Yeah. I am."

"**Ah. Well, at least you have confidence, foolish as it may be." **Rumia raised her head to lock eyes with her opponent. **"Allow me to present a counter-argument."**

With that, her shadow lunged across the floor like a striking snake. It drew back its dark arm and plunged it through the back of Mokou's shadow.

Though it was her shadow that was struck, Mokou suddenly arched her back, her face grimacing in pain. Her chest exploded outward, as if an invisible spear had been plunged through her body.

Then, though she knew full well what was coming, she smiled with relief. It was finally over.

When the taint finished its job, she was no longer even recognizable as Human.

…

Mokou's eyes snapped open. "Now!" she shouted.

"What?" Kaguya's head snapped up. "You mean-"

Mokou nodded. She snapped to her feet. "Now, Keine! Do it now!"

…

Rumia watched as what was left of Mokou dropped to the floor. She wondered if she should feel happy. After all, her enemy now lay dead at her feet. The voice of Azrael had been obeyed. And it was another Hourai Immortal to boot. Again Death had triumphed over Life. She should be feeling proud. Satisfied. Smug. Instead she just felt tired. Tired and disappointed in herself.

Oh sure, that piece of _Azrael _that constantly goaded her on was thrilled, but Rumia herself felt like kicking herself. Once again, she had lost control and gone for the kill. Now she had lost easy access to Phoenix Fire and half of her anticipated dose of Hourai immortality. She didn't know if the effects would have stacked, but she was never going to find out now. Plus, killing Mokou while still inside her subconscious was just stupid. She might have just eliminated her only chance of getting out of here.

Still, the facsimile didn't look like it was about to collapse. Perhaps by being bound to Kaguya, Mokou's subconscious would live on even after her conscious mind had been destroyed. But that still left her with the problem of now only having one key to a double-locked door.

Rumia sighed. The problem was that she was supposed to be the harbinger of death and destruction, the Avatar of the most notorious Archangel of Death to have ever existed. And that meant all of her impulses were geared toward, well, death and destruction. Subtly wasn't beyond her, but the more she gave in to her power, the harder it was to keep her eye on the prize. It had been easier when she had been pretending to be a hapless lockpicker, as keeping her Shadow Youkai identity contained also meant that the impulses were easier to control. But by going all out against Mokou, she had also given into the bloodlust. And Mokou's aggravating attempts to dig out the shattered remains of her host hadn't helped either, nor had her surprising amount of success.

Funny though, she could still smell Mokou. Since the taint killed everything, including bacteria, it didn't leave behind a stench. Maybe this whole place was infected with her smell.

Rumia looked down and frowned in confusion. Also, for some strange reason, the tip of a gore-covered blade was sticking out of her chest. How odd, she hadn't even noticed. Granted, the _incredible _amount of pain she was in right now would disguise the blade's entry, but even so, one would think she would have noticed…

Oh.

Well then. Rumia supposed she really should have seen this coming.

It was measure of how her day was going in that Rumia's primary reaction wasn't rage, but resignation. _**Now this, **_she thought wearily, _**is really going to hurt.**_

…

Once she had materialized behind Rumia's back, Mokou wasted no time driving her father's sword right through the monstrosity's body. There was a certain karmic poetry to this, considering how Rumia had executed the other Mokou. But Mokou had neither the time nor inclination to think on it, and instead pumped as much Phoenix Fire as she could summon up down through the sword's blade and into Rumia's body.

As it turned out, she could summon up quite a lot.

Again, Rumia caught fire. But this time she burned from the inside out, as Mokou poured more and more fire into her.

Curiously though, she didn't fight back. She didn't call up her clouds or pull away. She didn't even scream. She just stood there and took it. Of course, the fact that Mokou was reducing her to little more than a freestanding skeleton covered with a blackened crush of flesh probably had something to do with her lack of mobility. In fact, she now resembled the withered husks her victims had become. Another score for dramatic irony.

But Mokou wasn't interested in taking chances. She just stood there and kept the heat going. Even as the orphanage was set alight and burned up around them, she stayed still and held the sword in place. Even as the fire spread across the lawn to consume the nearby forest, she kept the inferno going. Even as the whole landscape was caught up in the holocaust and the sky above was choked out by the smoke and ash, she kept right on burning Rumia, with the full intent of continuing until there was nothing left.

Unfortunately, Rumia just wouldn't cooperate with that plan. Oh sure, she burned easily enough, and her flesh was being scoured away, but by rights she should be nothing more than a tiny pile of ash. But she somehow was keeping her shape, and her flesh, scorched as it was, stayed on her bones.

Oh crap.

Finally Rumia moved, impossible as it appeared. She reached down with her flaming hands and seized the tip of Mokou's sword and gave it a hard shove. The force of it pushed the sword back out and sent Mokou stumbling.

Rumia turned to face her. Her face, which was now little more than a blackened skull covered by a thin layer of seared tissue and lit from within by Mokou's fire, still managed to convey her sheer frustration.

"**W-w-words…c-cannot…c-convey," **she rasped, **"how…much…I…h-hate you."**

"Feeling's mutual," Mokou hissed. She lunged forward, hacking at Rumia's front three times with the blazing sword in her hand. Which that failed to bring her down, she screamed and leapt up to slam her feet into Rumia's chest.

It didn't break her apart, but it did knock her down and send her tumbling down the hill. Mokou watched her go and shook her head. Good gods, what did it take to keep her down?

Then she glanced at where the other Mokou's body had disappeared. There wasn't anything left of it of course, for which she was thankful. That would just be too damned creepy.

"Well, good job," she muttered. "Be glad you don't have to deal with this shitstorm anymore."

With that, she leapt off the burned out remains of the orphanage's third story and went after Rumia.

Unfortunately, someone else had gotten there first.

…

Rumia lay on her back, arms and legs spread around her and eyeless sockets staring upward. Thanks to certain supernatural advantages, she could still see. She just didn't really feel like moving.

Everything had gone so completely wrong. She was supposed to have been through here and in Rin Satsuki's mind by now, rearranging memories and directing impulses to her liking. Instead, she was lying burned and broken at the bottom of a hill. Clearly not her finest hour.

Still, she could salvage this. The pain was great, yes, but it had been great after Rin Satsuki had poured all those emotions down her throat, and she had been able to suck it up and deal. She just needed to do it again, even if this pain exceeded that one by a significant magnitude.

Then she became aware of other presences, familiar ones. She glanced to the side and realized that she was now being surrounded by a great many ugly, snarling things. Oh wonderful. More Zerg. And these ones didn't look anywhere near as docile as the last lot.

"Hey," someone said. "Asshole. Look up here."

Rumia looked, and her roasted heart fell. The Zerg had brought friends. Specifically, no fewer than five velmicks reared up around her, their stony maws quivering with anticipation.

And sitting on the largest of them was none other than Kaguya Houraisan herself. And she looked pissed.

"This is for Body," she hissed. Rumia had no idea what she was talking about. What body? Or whose?

Unfortunately, she didn't have much time to puzzle it out before the Kaguya's pet monsters attacked.

…

"Wait!" Mokou cried as she charged down the hill, waving her arms. "Stop!"

She might as well have been screaming at a landslide. It was nothing short of a feeding frenzy. Slavering Zerg pushed each other aside and crawled over one another's carapaces in their need to feast. As they ripped and tore as what little flesh Rumia had left, one of the velmicks reared back, its sinuous body a gargantuan silhouette against the red sky. Then it plunged down to seize Rumia and all attached Zerg in its jaws.

"No!" Mokou screamed. "Not now, not when I'm so close!"

Too late. The velmick's mandibles worked its mouthful for a few moments before swallowing the whole mass.

Mokou stared at the grisly sight. Her body was still, save for a slight tremble around the fingers, shoulders, and her right eye. It had been working. Dark Rumia, whatever she was, had been wasting away. A few more minutes were all she had needed. But then Kaguya had to show up and ruin everything.

And speaking of which, Kaguya herself was marching up the charred hillside, looking every bit as furious as Mokou felt.

Mokou ran down to meet her. "What in the _hell _do you think you're doing?" she demanded. "I had her! She was this close to-"

Kaguya struck Mokou across the face, much as Eirin had earlier. Again, it shut her up in mid-sentence.

"You…you _stupid, arrogant, selfish bitch!" _Kaguya cried as she struck Mokou again and again in rhythm with her adjectives. "Is _this _what you call following my lead?"

She swung her hand to slap Mokou again, but this time Mokou got her forearm in the way, blocking the blow. Then she twisted her arm around to seize Kaguya's wrist. "It was working, you idiot!" she shouted back. "I almost had-"

Kaguya wrenched her hand away. "You lied to me," she said. Her face was bright red and her eyes wet with angry tears. "You…you promised to do things my way. You promised."

Mokou opened her mouth to respond, but Kaguya didn't give her the chance. "Your plan got Body _killed! _And then you go and divide _yourself? _And you send your other self to try that failure plan again? Only this time it was a _suicide mission? _What the HELL is wrong with you?"

Mokou had to wince at that. "Well, uh, actually I didn't _send_ her anywhere. Not technically."

"What?" Kaguya stared at her. "What are you talking about? She volunteered, is that what you're saying?"

"No, not really. More of she won the coin toss."

The look Kaguya gave her then was primarily disbelief mixed with disgust and just little bit of pity. "She…won the coin toss? You tossed a coin, and she _won?" _Kaguya closed her eyes and shook her head. "Oh gods. You are a real piece of work, Fujiwara no Mokou."

"Don't I know it," Mokou said wearily. "But look, I'm sorry I lied to you and made everything all…disturbing with the other me. But it _worked! _Or at least, it was working. Rumia was going down! A little more time was all I needed!"

Kaguya rolled her eyes. "I dunno, I think she's done enough as it is," she said, sticking her thumb over her shoulder.

"No! Fire is the only thing that really works! Trying to tear her apart is just going to piss her-"

A monstrous bellow of pain interrupted their conversation. The velmick that had swallowed Rumia had started to cough. Its body swayed back and forth as it wheezed out small puffs of black smoke.

Then a heavy shudder passed through it. The velmick reared back up and moaned.

"Oh," Kaguya said, her smug certainty leaving her. "Well. Déjà vu."

The velmick's head exploded. A torrent of smoke issued out from its stump, and in it Mokou could see Rumia's limp form being born up. She hung lifelessly, looking like a black skeleton being held up by the smoke itself. Maybe she was; she seemed incapable of moving under her own power.

"Shit, I take it back," Kaguya said. She nervously bit her lower lip. "Uh, Mokou? Change of plans, get back to the roasting."

But before Mokou could comply, Rumia's head lifted. Despite the incredibly amount of punishment she had taken, the two crimson lights of her eyes remained, burning with mindless hate. Her mouth opened and she let out a wailing shriek. The sound of it was inhuman. Even a youkai should not have been able to make that sound. It was the cry of the damned yet defiant. Mokou fell to her knees and clapped her hands over her ears. Even so, she could still feel it reverberating through her bones.

Rumia shrieked again, and multiple tendrils of darkness shot out of the pillar of smoke, each one of them spearing a Zerg or a velmick. In moments, she reduced Kaguya's army to another pile of corpses.

But that wasn't all. The tendrils seemed to be drawing some kind of energy from their victims. Mokou could clearly see silver flashes of energy traveling back up their lengths to be absorbed by Rumia. Given what they were, she doubted that it was actual life force being drained. More than likely she was taking in some kind of psychic energy.

And it was working. Her body was regenerating. Not fully, not even halfway. When she had taken in all she could find, she still looked like something that needed to be buried.

It was enough. Rumia's tattered wings spread, and she swooped down at Kaguya and Mokou, shrieking the whole way. The pillar came with her, trailing behind like comet's tail.

Mokou tried bring her fire to bear, but in time it took to make the decision and send the necessary mental instructions, Rumia had already shot out of the smoke to tackle both Mokou and Kaguya to the ground. As for the smoke itself, it shot back into the sky and expanded. Rumia's storm literally came alive above them. All light was blotted out, all fire snuffed, and her lethal cyclones slammed down all around them, sending the winds into a frenzy.

And Rumia? Well, she wasn't exactly sane anymore. **"The perfect plan!" **she screamed into their faces. **"It was the perfect plan! Just a few lousy days, and I would have been gone! Done! I would have left you alone! But no, you had to go screw **_**everything **_**up!"**

She brought her hands up and shoved a talon into each of their mouths. **"I am officially **_**done **_**with this! I'll find some other source of true immortality! It's a big universe, there has to be one! But as for you two?" **She hunched down and brought her voice to a growl. **"You won't be around to see it."**

With that, she sent the taint right down their throats.

…

It was a strange thing, dying. Mokou had done it countless times. Depending on the method, it could either be a slow fading away from consciousness or sudden oblivion, or any sort of variation in between. She considered her something of an expert in the field of dying, even moreso than the many youkai and fairies who did it on a daily basis. After all, she was the few who could experience the phenomenon from a Human's perspective.

One common element was the feeling of rapidly descending down a dark tunnel. A cliché perhaps, but that was just because it was true. Of course she never went the full length, but depending on the nature of her death the trip could last just a few seconds or much longer before she lost all consciousness. Sometimes she wondered what it would be like to go the full length, to fully sink into darkness. It was never going to happen, but that didn't stop her from wondering.

There was one thing she was certain of though, and that was that when Rumia stole all life from her body, she was sent further down the tunnel than she had ever gone, and at a faster pace as well.

_Well, _she found herself thinking. _Guess this is it. Funny, I never thought it would be so easy. _She felt amused. _Well, at least Kaguya's coming along to keep me company. _It was fitting in a way.

If she had eyes she would have closed them. Instead, she just cast away all regret and surrendered herself to the darkness.

The darkness declined. Before Mokou reached bottom, her descent was brought to a halt.

_Wait, _Mokou thought. _They're not going to-_

Then she started to ascend. Horror struck her, and she tried to keep herself from going further. _No! It was over! I was done! Don't send me back! Please, don't send me back!_

Her pleas fell on deaf ears. And while the way back was much, much slower than her plummet had been, it continued at a steady pace. In time she started to regain contact with her reforming body.

_Stop! _she cried. _I don't want to go back! I don't want to go-_

She was back.

The storm was still raging overhead. Not too far off, the desiccated remains of Kaguya's army lay in a pile. Kaguya herself was lying right next to her, eyes staring blankly but otherwise seemingly no worse for the wear for their deep plunge into oblivion.

As for Rumia, she was crouching not far away, her back to the pair. Lying before her were two black humanoid forms, ones that bore a striking resemblance to the two Hourai Immortals.

With a flash, Mokou realized what had happened. Their bodies had become too corrupted to regenerate, so the power granted by the Hourai Elixir had simply created new ones.

Mokou felt like crying. She was truly trapped.

Rumia must have sensed them, because she whirled around on all fours. When she saw the two, her eyes went wide with shock.

"**What?" **she said. **"But I…I killed…Oh, **_**hell **_**no!"**

She pounced, and Mokou made no move to stop her. And in moments she was tumbling back into darkness.

…

Time passed. Mokou opened her eyes.

Rumia stared down at her. **"Stay dead this time," **she said. And down Mokou went.

…

Mokou didn't stay dead.

"**Did you not hear me?" **Rumia demanded. **"Stay dead! Please!"**

Sighing, Mokou said, "If saying 'please' was all it took, I would have been gone a long time ago."

"**Yeah? Well, be gone now!"**

…

This time, the trip to death and back was…unusual.

As was the case the previous three times, Mokou fell swiftly, only to have her passage stopped and reversed. However, before she had gone halfway, she was falling again, without having returned to life. Then she was sent back, only to be knocked back down the tunnel.

_Huh, _Mokou thought as she bounced up and down the tunnel to the other side. She could practically see the white light approaching and retreating over and over again. _Well. This is new._

As she was incapable of doing anything about it, she was forced to wait until her soul stopped doing its slinky impression.

Finally the bouncing came to an end, and Mokou was allowed to return fully to consciousness.

She sat up and opened her eyes. She hadn't gone far. The hill was still there, as was Rumia and the associated bad weather. What was new was the increase in the number of shriveled corpses. Specifically, her own, and Kaguya's. Rumia must have repeatedly tried to abort their resurrection while it was still in process. Clearly it hadn't worked.

As for Rumia, she was crouching hunched over on her haunches with her head clasped in her talons and seemed to be preoccupied with a full mental breakdown.

"**Should've worked," **she was whispering as she rocked back and forth. **"Should've worked, should've worked, should've worked. Can kill **_**anything, **_**mortal and immortal alike. Why didn't it work?"**

Someone cleared their throat, and Mokou saw the Kaguya was still next to her. The Lunarian princess looked somewhat shaken by their ordeal, but was otherwise all right.

"Anything except Hourai Immortals," she told Rumia. "Don't you get it? We _can't _die. That's how the elixir works. No matter what, we always come back."

Rumia paused her rocking to glower at her. **"Shouldn't matter," **she snapped. **"I'm the godsdamned Avatar of Death. It is **_**literally **_**my calling to kill everything."**

"Everything except us, apparently" Kaguya said. She sounded as tired as Mokou felt.

"**But I did! Those other yous died and didn't come back. Why did you?"**

"Because…" Kaguya shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe they got absorbed back into us or something. Maybe it only makes sure that there's at least one of us still around." A small smile tugged at her lips. "Well, I hope so at least."

Mokou didn't. In fact, the very possibility made her feet a little sick. If so, her other self hadn't escaped after all.

Still, they had to deal with the situation before them. "I guess immovable object beats out irresistible force in the end," she said. She slowly stood up and offered Kaguya her hand. This got her an odd look, but Kaguya took it.

"You ready for this?" Mokou asked as she helped Kaguya up.

Kaguya shook her head. "No, not really."

Mokou frowned. "What?"

"I'm done," Kaguya said flatly. "And so are you. She wins."

Rumia's head jerked up. **"What?"**

Mokou agreed. "What?"

"Mokou, come on," Kaguya said. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "We threw everything we have at her, and she still beat us. And now she knows that going all out isn't going to end us. Even if she can't kill us, she can still ravage our minds. And I for one don't fancy being lobotomized."

"But…" Mokou was quite beside herself. "If she takes over…"

"We can't beat her," Kaguya said flatly. "We can hurt her, we can delay her, but it's only going to delay the inevitable. And in the meantime, she's going to tear our minds apart."

Rumia slowly rose to her feet. **"That is quite true," **she put in. **"I will do exactly that."**

"I'm sick of fighting, Mokou," Kaguya continued. "I'm sick of dying. And I'm sick of her. We're going back to Eirin's plan. She's Rin Satsuki's problem now. At least this way, we'll have a little breathing room to think of something else."

Mokou was aghast. This was _not _way she had seen this going. "But…w-what about Rumia? _My _Rumia? What about her, huh?"

"**Gone," **Rumia told her. **"I told you already. Digging up some buried fragments isn't going to bring her back."**

"I'm sorry Mokou, but I'm not going to sacrifice myself for a girl that's been dead for sixty years," Kaguya said. "It's over, okay? That was way too close." She shuddered. "I…I can't go that far into the dark again. So I'm throwing in the towel. Call me a coward if you want, but…I'm not doing that again."

"**Ah, Kaguya, ever the voice of reason!" **Rumia cheered. She now looked downright eager. **"You know, I have a feeling that Mokou was the reason Kerrigan backed out. If she hadn't started spewing her bullshit, we could have been done with this a long time-"**

"Go to Hell," Kaguya snapped.

"**That's where I'm headed, Pumpkin. Just waiting for someone to show me the way."**

"No!" Mokou seized Kaguya by the shoulders and spun her so that they were looking at each other in the eyes. "You can't do this! We can still win! All we have to do is…"

Her voice trailed off. Her mind raced furiously for some sort of workable stratagem, but she was coming up blank.

"Do what?" Kaguya said. She gently removed Mokou's hands from her shoulders. "Mokou, remember all that Phoenix Fire you pumped into her? She _still _got up again. She's stronger than us, and if we keep resisting her, it's just going to mean more pain for us."

"Who cares? Our lives are pain! A little more shouldn't matter!"

Rumia coughed loudly, drawing their attention. **"If I may be permitted to make a few points in Kaguya's favor…"**

"Shut up!" Mokou shouted.

"**No. Now look, I've been holding back this whole trip. See, I figured if you took too much of the taint, you would be gone forever, and there goes my immortality. But seeing how we just proved that you'll still come back, well…" **Rumia didn't possess much in the way of lips anymore, but she still managed a ghastly grin. **"In five minutes, this storm is turning into a hurricane, and a lethal fog will cover everything. I will send it far and wide, until it occupies the whole of the dream. You will both die immediately of course, and will return as well. But then the storm will reach you, and you will die again. Wash, rinse, repeat, until there are no places left for you to resurrect. You will be trapped in limbo, unable to return to life, unable to sink into death. Then, if I have not found a way out, after five days I will let you two return long enough to ask if you're ready to cooperate. If you are not, then back you go." **Her blistered tongue snaked out to lick her ravaged face. **"Wash. Rinse. Repeat."**

Kaguya made a small squeak. She whirled to face Mokou and seized her by the collar. "She goes. She goes _now!"_

Mokou wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. She wanted to kill them both. She wanted to keep fighting, to match her inferno against Rumia's hurricane and make her pay for every meter she took.

But to what end? What good would it do? Rumia no longer had any reason to fear for their continued existence. If she truly did go all out, would Mokou be able to stand against her? Mokou didn't know, but she wanted very much to find out.

Except there was one very pressing problem with that course of action. And that Mokou did not fear death. In fact, she would welcome it. And life was at least an acceptable substitute. But to be trapped in between? She had no doubt that Rumia would carry out her threat and hold them captive between here and the hereafter. And that was a fate that Mokou did fear: a continued existence of nothingness, forever imprisoned in limbo.

Besides, refusing Rumia's demands might buy everyone on the outside some time, but in the end it would only delay the inevitable. Sooner or later she would break, and Rumia would have what she wanted anyway. And as she and Kaguya were the only ones who knew what Rumia was up to, playing the martyr was pointless. It wasn't like they would be able to get word out. And while she kept them trapped, Rumia would most likely find a way out without their help.

Mokou was no hero, and she was not an idiot either. This wasn't like her fights with Kaguya. Losing didn't mean some meaningless pain and lost time. Losing meant damnation of the worst kind, with nothing of value accomplished.

She hated it. It went against every instinct she possessed. But this was not a fight she could win. And the thought of losing terrified her. May the gods forgive her.

"Fine," she spat. "You win. I hope she roasts the flesh right off your bones."

"**If she did I would have to deduct her points for a lack of originality." **Rumia leapt over Mokou and Kaguya's heads and clapped a hand on each of their shoulders. Mokou winced at the touch. There was no taint involved, but that didn't mean the contact was any less repulsive.

"**All right, ladies," **Rumia said cheerfully. **"Let's get moving!"**

…

Reaching the center of their subconscious minds was almost disappointingly easy. All Kaguya and Mokou had to do was will a portal into existence and step through. Given how much trouble they had encountered while making the journey on foot, Mokou couldn't help but feel that the dream was once again screwing with them. When they had been determined to reach the center, all manner of obstacles had been thrown in their way. But when going there felt like marching down the green mile, the door just opened up for them.

"**Well, okay then," **Rumia observed.** "Too bad you couldn't do that at the beginning, huh? Would have saved us a **_**lot **_**of trouble."**

Mokou glanced at Kaguya, who was staring straight ahead and refusing to acknowledge either of them. Neither of them said anything.

"**Oh, come on," **Rumia said. She gave them a hard shove, making them walk again. **"Personally, I think you're being too pessimistic about all this. I mean, look at all the neat stuff you can do now! After I'm gone, you'll have nothing but fun times! Chin up girls, at least you two will come out okay."**

They passed through the portal and at last arrived at the center.

It wasn't Eientei, as Kaguya had predicted. Instead, it was a wild garden, filled with trees, grasses, and flowers growing wherever they pleased. Insects buzzed everywhere, and Mokou could hear a brook babbling nearby. However, the sky overhead was thick with grey clouds, like the mists the elevator had fallen through.

Despite the despair she was feeling, Mokou still found her interest piqued by their surroundings. And as she looked around, she saw that despite looking like it got along fine without being cared for by a gardener, the garden still had a strange order to it. Each plant occupied its plot without intruding its neighbors' territory. It was like the seeds had been carefully arranged, only to agree to respect each other's' borders even after being allowed to grow wild.

But that wasn't the only thing of interest. The garden did double-duty as a cemetery. Grave markers stuck up everywhere, without ordered rows. They were all old but intact, and on them the names of the deceased could still be seen. Mokou recognized far too many of the names she saw for her comfort.

"**Huh. Death and life, existing together in harmony," **Rumia said as she marched them forward. She shrugged. **"Well, as far as metaphors go, it's a bit on the nose, but I've seen worse. Weird though, I expected something more self-destructive."**

"Rumia," Kaguya said. "Stop talking."

Rumia smirked, but she acquiesced.

They kept moving until they reached the middle of the garden of graves. There, a crypt rose up above the gravestones. Over its sharply triangular roof rose up a statue of a Phoenix. Its wings curved around a stone Moon.

Kaguya scrunched up her nose when she saw it. "Figures," she muttered. "It doesn't matter how much I try to get away from it, I'm still associated with the freaking Moon."

"**Old labels are hard to escape from," **Rumia said sympathetically. **"Still, it does help point the way."** She roughly shoved them forward. **"Now. Open the damned door."**

Mokou shot her a dirty look. Then she straightened out her collar and walked over to the crypt. It was sealed by a stone double-door, a brass ring hanging on each side. "This is wrong," she told Kaguya as the Lunarian wrapped her fingers around one of the rings.

"I know," Kaguya said with a sigh. "But why start doing the right thing now?"

"Because if she succeeds, a lot of people are going to die." Kaguya had nothing to say to that.

"**Hey!" **Rumia snapped. **"Less moralizing, more door opening. C'mon, we all want me gone." **Then, after a short pause, she added, **"And oh yeah, this goes without saying, but if this is another ill-advised trap, know that I **_**can **_**take whatever it is, and will then cut up-"**

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Kaguya growled. "We _get it _already."

With that, she pulled on the handle. Mokou sighed. _If I wasn't damned already, _she thought. Then she pulled on her side.

The door of their shared crypt creaked, and it started to open. Rumia leaned forward, a look of eager glee on her face.

"**Yes," **she said. **"Yes! This is it. I can feel it. Rin's mind is right on the other side. I'm almost there."**

Mokou kept pulling. Curiously, the more the door opened, the warmer it got. Even with her natural immunity to heat, she still noticed. Her skin prickled with sweat.

And then the light started to pour out to touch Rumia's arm.

She yanked it away with hiss. Her skin, already horribly burned, was now covered with white blisters. She stared down at the damage in horror.

"**Wait," **she said. **"That's not right…"**

Mokou exchanged a look with Kaguya. An understanding passed between them, and they pulled back with all their strength, yanking the door wide open.

Blazing scarlet light tinged with yellow issued forth, striking Rumia full on. She screamed in agony and retreated, her wings instinctively covering her front. **"This again?" **she cried. **"I thought they all drained away! How much rage does this girl have stored up?"**

Mokou had no idea what Rumia was talking about, she only knew that Rumia had a highly negative reaction to the light. That was reason enough to get her into it.

Mokou started running. She circled around to get behind Rumia. In doing so, she had to pass through the light.

The shock of it almost made her stumble. It was unlike anything she had ever felt before: a blazing intensity that seared anything that it came in contact with. It wasn't really heat, she realized. She wouldn't be bothered by it if it were. It was rage, pure and undulated, concentrated into a distilled form. Again, Mokou found herself thanking Kaguya for forcing her to build up such a superhuman tolerance for pain. She would have blinded by agony otherwise.

Instead, she was able to push on despite it, to get behind Rumia without attracting the monster's attention. Once there, she leapt up, flattened her body out so that Rumia was unintentionally shielding her from the light, and summoned up all the power she could.

But instead of releasing it, she let it build up, filling her body with energy. A pounding drumbeat resonated in her ears, and pressure built up behind her eyes. The air around her radiated with heat.

It didn't take long, a few seconds at most. But when she was done, her skin was trembling with the restrained power. She focused on spot between Mokou's shoulder blades, crossed her arms in front of her face, and gave the energy the release it craved.

She slammed into Rumia's back like a rocket. Caught off guard, the self-proclaimed Avatar of Death was driven forward toward the open door, the light scorching her from the front while Mokou burned her from behind. She tried to dig into the ground with her feet, but Mokou's momentum continued to propel her forward without slowing down.

Then, just before being swallowed by the crypt, Rumia's hands snapped out to seize the doorframe, bringing them both to a stop. She screamed as the light turned the front of her body to chalky powder, but she hung on. Mokou kept pushing with all her might.

Then a Kaguya came rocketing through the air to hit Rumia in the small of her back. This impact was enough to loosen her grip, allowing Mokou to flip around and drive both feet into the back of Rumia's head.

"**No!" **Rumia screamed as she fell into the yawning mouth of the crypt. The light now hit Mokou with full force, blinding her. She flailed around until her crumbling fingers grasped one of the doors.

Given how much of her body was wasted away, she should not have been able to move it. And yet it moved anyway. Which made sense in a way. After all, the dream had always wanted Rumia gone.

The light cut off, and Mokou collapsed into the grass and died.

…

No! It wasn't supposed to be like this!

Rumia fell through a world of agony. The pain was identical to when Rin had tricked her into cutting into her emotions. Except in this case the intensity was magnified beyond belief. The previous time had been like being burned by acid. This time she had been flung into the tank.

But she didn't die. Death was her element and her ally, and it wouldn't take her like this. As such, she was forced to endure the torture as she tumbled blindly through the whirlwind of fury that filled Rin's mind.

Suddenly her flailing arms smacked against something solid. Driven by desperation, she dug in with her talons, clinging to what felt like a rock wall. From there she dug in with wild abandon, disintegrating the stone as she tunneled deeper and deeper.

The pain lessened, though her body was still in horrible shape. Once she felt she had gone far enough, she used her remaining strength to carve out a little hollow and collapsed in a miserable heap.

…

Time passed, and Mokou opened her eyes.

She was still in the center of her and Kaguya's subconscious minds. Nearby, the crypt that acted as the doorway out stood closed and silent. Though it was unchanged from before, the Phoenix statue seemed almost smug as it crouched over the door. Mokou stared up into its stone eyes.

Then a ladybug started crawling over her nose. Mokou sniffed and gently brushed it off. Then she sat up.

Kaguya was nearby with her back against a grave marker. Upon seeing Mokou moving, she nodded and said, "Hey. You okay?"

Mokou considered the question. Physically, she had regenerated fully. Whatever power had emitted out from Rin Satsuki's mind was gone now, and it had been as incapable of destroying her as Rumia had. The only discomfort she felt was that annoying itch that came from lying in the grass too long.

But she was not okay. She was far from okay. She felt cold and empty inside. Rumia had achieved her goal of escape, and now both Mokou and Kaguya were left behind. She tried to find solace in the fact that Rumia's welcome had been much more than she had bargained for, but it was hard to find any sort of hope.

Sighing, she leaned back against the crypt. "As much as I'll ever be," she said, drawing her legs up and slumping over her knees.

"I hear you," Kaguya said softly. "That was…kind of rough."

Mokou gave her a look and rolled her eyes.

A small, sad smile touched Kaguya's mouth. "So. She's gone."

"Yeah."

"And we're here."

Mokou nodded.

"So we lost."

"Maybe," Mokou admitted. She stretched out her lets and tilted her head back to look up at the clear, blue sky. "Maybe in a way."

Kaguya sighed. "Well, at least we survived it. Sort of. And I think Rumia got a bit more than she was expecting. So, there's that." She tilted her head to one side. "I don't know, what do you think? You think she's gone for good?"

"No," Mokou said without hesitation. "Things like her don't die. They're too old and too mean to die."

"Yeah, I guess you would know something about that," Kaguya said with a snort. "Still. She didn't look like she was having fun when she went in. I guess Satsuki's mind likes trespassers even less than ours does."

"Guess so."

"Serves her right."

"Yup."

They sat in silence for a time, listening to the insects. Then Kaguya stood up and started walking away.

"Where you going?" Mokou asked.

Kaguya paused. "Away. Someplace to rest."

Mokou blinked. "Wait, you're not heading back to that city, are you?"

Kaguya actually let out a small laugh. "Nah, not in the mood. I was thinking a really nice hotel. But not something too modern. A lodge, maybe. Someplace where I can take a very long, very hot bath. And while that's going on, I'm going call up the city and have my top scientists research how to get some godsdamned sleep. I need a nap."

That actually made Mokou laugh. "You know, I'd argue with you and call you stupid, but you know what? A nap sounds fantastic."

"You got that right." Kaguya glanced at Mokou over her shoulder. "So, you wanna come?"

Mokou rolled her eyes. "Oh, hell. Why not?" She started to get up. "I could use a stupid fantasy right about-" Then she froze. "Wait. Hold on, d-did you just proposition me?"

"Proposition…Oh gods!" Kaguya slapped a hand across her face. "No, damn it! I meant come back to the hotel! I figured we'd get you your own room or something! I didn't mean for…" Then she stopped. A thoughtful look passed over her face. "Why, would you, uh, be interested?"

Once upon a time Mokou would have torn Kaguya limb from limb simply for making the suggestion. This time, she just gave her a steely look. "Kaguya, I am still getting used to not hating you. Don't press your luck."

"Ha. Fair enough."

The two walked down the path away from the crypt. Kaguya snapped her fingers, and a door opened up.

"You're really getting the hang of that," Mokou observed.

"Yeah. Nifty, huh?" Kaguya's face turned sour. "Hey, Mokou? About…about our, uh, other selves…"

Mokou looked away. "I don't know. Don't ask, because I don't know."

They passed through the portal in silence. Beyond, a three-story wooden building sat nestled in a pleasant looking forest. It was early evening, and all the lights were on, bathing the surrounding area in a cheery glow. Inside, the babble of voices could be heard.

Mokou told a long look at the lodge and her shoulders slumped. She felt like such a sellout. After ranting at Kaguya for using the dream to live out a fantasy, here she was about to do the same thing. But damn it, she was just so tired. Too much had happened in such a short time. She just didn't have the energy to care anymore.

They approached the building together. Out of the doors walked a young woman with long, black hair wearing shorts and a jacket. She almost walked right past the pair, but then did a double-take. She stopped, and her eyes widened.

"Oh my gods," she said breathlessly. "It's really…" Her face flushed pink, and she quickly scrambled through her purse.

The next thing Mokou knew, a pen and a small black book opened to a blank page, likely used for keeping track of transaction, was being thrust at her. "I'm sorry, but I love your music," the young woman said. "Uh, do you think I could get, uh, you know?"

Mokou arched an eyebrow. She tilted her head to cast a questioning look at Kaguya.

The Lunarian Princess sighed and put a hand to her face. "Gah, sorry about that. I completely forgot. Give me a minute, I'll fix it."

"Hold on," Mokou said, and she took the little book.

It was probably a pointless gesture. After all, there was no way she was going to let that whole 'idol singer' thing continue. In fact, she was going to have Kaguya get rid of it as soon before they entered the lodge.

But hell, imaginary or not, the girl just looked so excited. And if Mokou was going to start letting go of hate, she might as well be thorough.

Mokou silently signed _From Mokou _in the book.

…

Deep within shelter of the alcove she had carved out, Rumia lay in a quivering heap. She felt like a piece of charcoal, looked like something a dragon might have vomited up, and smelled like an atrocity. She was broken. She was burned. She was buried in a hole of dust, hiding from angry psychic energies.

But she wasn't beaten. Not yet.

In time, her spasms evened out, and her eyes cracked out. That just got her an eyeful of dust, and she quickly closed them again.

Then she took stock of herself. Okay, so she was having an incredibly shitty day, but she had made it. She was in Rin Satsuki's subconscious. And despite the horrible state she was in, she had a job to do.

_**Snuff out all that stand against you. Seek out those who flee from you. Tear them from their holes and-**_

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rumia extended one hand and touched it to the solid wall. From there, she started seeping dark energy into the stone.

Though moving her ravaged tissue just caused agony to flare up, Rumia still found herself smiling. Okay, finally some real progress. She would start with this…rock thing she was in, and work her way down. Before too long, Rin would feel her influence. The girl's impulses would be replaced with Rumia's, and she would have no idea why. Rumia was going to make her incapable of fighting back. Soon she would be as helpless of a puppet as Kaguya's skull had been.

_**Pull the flesh from their bones and squeeze out the marrow. Lacerate their skin with scorpions, and brand their genitals with-**_

Uh-huh, okay. And when the time was right, Rumia was going to oust Rin entirely. Then all of the stupid little Kirin's power would be hers. Nothing could hurt her then.

Heartened by the thought, Rumia pushed out with her other hand and increased the energy output. All the while, Azrael continued to drone on and on in her head.

_**Stab out their eyes with spikes, and yank out their fingernails. Fill their veins with poison and their stomachs with blood.**_

Fine, whatever. As soon as she could, she was going to get right on that.

_**You are Death given flesh, so go forth and fulfill your function. Take up my sword, and with it, you shall descend upon the living like a whirlwind.**_

Preaching to the choir, boss.

_**Though I am bound by chains and Holy will, through you my great work shall continue. And the sky will grow dark with ash, while the rivers will run red with-**_

_-oh gods, please don't make me do these things anymore. Please let me go. I don't want to be a monster, please stop making her hurt people-_

Rumia froze in place. Wait a minute, where in the hell had _that _come from? It wasn't Azrael's voice, it wasn't Rin's, it certainly wasn't hers…

…except it was. Not her, precisely. But it did sound an awful lot like the _other _Rumia, the one who had been running around in her skin for the last sixty years.

But how was that possible? She was here, and the other Rumia was far, far away. And she certainly wasn't making her do anything. So where had that voice-

Then a horrible, horrible possibility struck her, making Rumia choke. Oh no. No way. It couldn't be. It was impossible.

Please no. Anything but that.

…

_And that my friends is game. Rhapsody of Subconscious Desire is now concluded. Granted, it's probably not an ending that came as a surprise to many, but there's plenty of space for curveballs in the future. As for the story itself, is this the end of Ex-Rumia? Obviously not. What about Kaguya and Mokou? Well, for now. They'll return eventually, but for now they're going to be taking a very long, much needed rest. But suffice to say, anything else relating to RoSD will take place in Imperfect Metamorphosis. Which, by the way, is soon to cross paths with RoSD, hence needing to wrap things up. Anyway, I'll be posting a full look-back on the story on tumblr fairly soon._

_Though I should note the irony in that if it wasn't for First Time, RoSD would be the first chaptered fic of mine to actually have an ending. But it still gets credit for being the first major story to get a finale. _

_Thanks for reading, everyone!_


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